Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 28,724 Shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Lazard Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 20.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 109,355 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 28,724 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group were worth $16,912,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in THG. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 61.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,155 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,022,000 after buying an additional 10,341 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 226.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 339 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 502.1% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 283 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,046,000. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $201,000. 86.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $171.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays raised shares of The Hanover Insurance Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.50.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

NYSE THG opened at $166.52 on Wednesday. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.66 and a 52-week high of $176.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $165.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $160.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40. The company has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a PE ratio of 14.24 and a beta of 0.44.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $3.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.58 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 6.83% and a return on equity of 18.01%. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.08 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 14.37 EPS for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is 29.98%.

Insider Transactions at The Hanover Insurance Group

In other news, EVP Bryan J. Salvatore sold 10,526 shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.60, for a total value of $1,753,631.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 25,864 shares in the company, valued at $4,308,942.40. This trade represents a 28.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO John C. Roche sold 200 shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.01, for a total transaction of $35,002.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 124,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,749,892.78. The trade was a 0.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,027 shares of company stock worth $1,841,309 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

The Hanover Insurance Group Company Profile

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.