Short Interest in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) Declines By 14.6%

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 469,800 shares, a drop of 14.6% from the March 15th total of 549,800 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 252,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on THG. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays upgraded The Hanover Insurance Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $179.00 to $171.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, The Hanover Insurance Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $178.00.

The Hanover Insurance Group Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE THG opened at $161.63 on Monday. The Hanover Insurance Group has a 12 month low of $119.66 and a 12 month high of $176.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $5.81 billion, a PE ratio of 13.83 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $158.79.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The insurance provider reported $5.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.45 by $1.87. The Hanover Insurance Group had a return on equity of 18.01% and a net margin of 6.83%. Research analysts forecast that The Hanover Insurance Group will post 14.37 EPS for the current year.

The Hanover Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.80%.

Insider Transactions at The Hanover Insurance Group

In other The Hanover Insurance Group news, CEO John C. Roche sold 301 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $52,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,414 shares in the company, valued at $21,772,450. This represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of THG. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,155 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,022,000 after purchasing an additional 10,341 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 35.0% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 4,013 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $656,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 344.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 7,254 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after buying an additional 5,622 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 226.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 339 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.61% 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.