Cwm LLC Decreases Stake in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG)

Cwm LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,366 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 966 shares during the period. Cwm LLC’s holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group were worth $1,137,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in THG. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,333 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $592,000 after purchasing an additional 946 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 6,837 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 126.3% during the 3rd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,548 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,060,000 after purchasing an additional 5,329 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its position in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 14,450 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,604,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group during the 3rd quarter worth $4,339,000. 86.61% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Warren E. Barnes sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total transaction of $65,570.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 3,612 shares in the company, valued at $473,677.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. TheStreet upgraded shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.83.

The Hanover Insurance Group Price Performance

NYSE:THG opened at $129.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 137.86 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s 50-day moving average is $131.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.80. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $103.82 and a 12-month high of $138.00.

The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE:THG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The insurance provider reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.62. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.56 billion. The Hanover Insurance Group had a net margin of 0.59% and a return on equity of 2.44%. Research analysts expect that The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. will post 10.03 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 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 361.70%.

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.