First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Increases Stake in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. $THG

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 252.3% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,140 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,681 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group were worth $873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new position in The Hanover Insurance Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in The Hanover Insurance Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 819.0% during the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 386 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 20.3% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 468 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 47.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 499 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on THG shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $188.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. JMP Securities set a $205.00 price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $188.00.

The Hanover Insurance Group Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock opened at $174.81 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $176.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.17. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.17 and a 12-month high of $186.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 0.44.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The insurance provider reported $4.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.07 by $1.28. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.60 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 8.67% and a return on equity of 20.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th were paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.70%.

About The Hanover Insurance Group

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides various property and casualty insurance products and services in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Core Commercial, Specialty, Personal Lines, and Other. The Commercial Lines segment offers commercial multiple peril, commercial automobile, workers' compensation, and other commercial lines coverage.