Peregrine Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Peregrine Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 24.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 53,803 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 17,762 shares during the period. Peregrine Capital Management LLC’s holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group were worth $6,533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in THG. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 321.8% in the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 51,519 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,718,000 after purchasing an additional 39,306 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 28.8% in the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 29,392 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,290,000 after purchasing an additional 6,579 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 547.8% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 13,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,498,000 after purchasing an additional 11,416 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 19.6% in the third quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 189,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $20,975,000 after purchasing an additional 31,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the third quarter valued at about $455,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at The Hanover Insurance Group

In other news, SVP Warren E. Barnes sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total value of $65,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $473,677.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

THG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a report on Friday, April 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $147.00 price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Monday, April 1st. TheStreet raised shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, The Hanover Insurance Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.83.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of THG stock opened at $131.39 on Thursday. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a one year low of $103.82 and a one year high of $138.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $131.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 139.77 and a beta of 0.67.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The insurance provider reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.62. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 0.59% and a return on equity of 2.44%. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 10.05 EPS for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s payout ratio is currently 361.71%.

The Hanover Insurance Group 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.