traded as nyse thg industry insurance founded 1852 headquarters worcester massachusetts united states website http www.hanover.com the hanover insurance group inc. based in worcester massachusetts is one of the oldest continuous businesses in the united states still operating within its original industry . it was the original name of a property liability insurance firm born in 1852 and it remained a publicly traded company under that name until the early 1990s when it changed its name to allmerica property & casualty companies . 1 2 in 1996 it spun off allmerica financial corporation as a property and casualty insurance and financial services holding company which then bought out the original firm and grew to become one of the 500 largest publicly traded companies of the united states . in 2005 allmerica financial corporation reverted its name to the hanover insurance group inc. . contents 1 history 1.1 the hanover insurance group inc. 1.2 allmerica property & casualty cos 1.3 allmerica financial 1.4 the hanover insurance group 2 see also 3 references history edit the hanover insurance group inc. edit the hanover insurance group was established in 1852 . it paid a cash dividend to shareholders every year since 1853 . 2 though remaining a relatively small company over the next 1 centuries between 1971 and 1983 hanover s common stock price from its low point early within that decade multiplied in price by over 23 times at its eventual peak . during the late end of that period in 1981 it split its shares three for two . the stock was traded publicly on the over the counter otc exchange as the nasdaq was still commonly referred to back then . 2 the rapid growth of the company continued into the mid 1980s and in 1984 it split again two for one and by 1985 nearly doubled in price once more trading then at a high price earnings ratio of 61 . at that time the company was debt free and carried a book value of nearly us 330 million . however by then the company s earnings had fallen to about a third of what they had been in the early 1980s . 2 in 1987 the company split its stock two for one again and was yet again on its way to another double in price even as its pe ratio dropped back down to a bargain five times earnings . those earnings had grown to nearly us 100 million more than double what the company had earned at the prior peak of 1981 . book value by 1987 stood at us 550 million . 2 however by the early 1990s recession hanover s earnings had declined once more to about us 50 million . 2 allmerica property & casualty cos edit in 1993 earnings reached another peak up fivefold from the recession years at over us 250 million . the stock price also reached another multi year peak that year . 2 by 1994 hanover insurance had changed its name to allmerica property & casualty companies inc. and had moved from the nasdaq to the new york stock exchange where it traded publicly under the new symbol apy . the company s rapid growth was back on track as the company shares again split three for one in 1994 . by 1994 book value had doubled from the late 1980s to us 1.2 billion . 2 in summer 1995 the stock price climbed above its 1993 peak high as the economy came out of its soft landing and pe ratios began their historic late 1990s ascent . allmerica financial edit in late 1995 the company spun off allmerica financial corporation with us 200 million long term debt assigned to that company as a new property and casualty insurance and financial services holding company . it held a diversified group of insurance and financial services companies with total assets of 19 billion . allmerica financial products included insurance and retirement savings accounts and group benefit programs mostly variable annuity and variable life products . that company in turn owned about a majority 60 % of the original entity allmerica properties & casualty companies . 1 2 3 by year end 1995 the new independent holding company afc had a book value of over us 1.4 billion nearly identical in size to its debt free predecessor which remained a majority owned also a publicly traded subsidiary of afc . 2 on october 11 1995 allmerica financial corporation began to trade on the nyse under the new symbol afc . the initial offering price was 21.00 . 4 at the time john f. o brien was the chief executive officer of allmerica financial corporation . 3 by 1997 allmerica property & casualty companies was among the top 30 property and casualty insurers in the united states based on net written premiums . by then its regional focus included michigan as well as its traditional northeast territory . it operated two primary subsidiaries . one subsidiary the hanover insurance company was the company s original business . 3 and the second subsidiary citizens corporation was a publicly traded stock which issued personal property and casualty insurance . 3 it had been a dividend paying public company since 1993 . by 1996 citizens corporation had shareholders equity of over us 650 million . 2 on february 20 1997 allmerica property & casualty companies inc. filed u.s. securities and exchange commission sec form 8 k following its announcement on the day before of its intention to be acquired by allmerica financial corporation afc . the surviving company afc would acquire the 40.5 % of allmerica p & c that it did not already own for approximately us 800 million . shareholders of apc would receive 17.60 in cash and 0.40 shares of afc . the merger deal was expected to be completed by the third quarter of 1997 . 3 the stock of allmerica property & casualty companies then ceased to trade and its old ticker symbol apy was ultimately taken over on the amex exchange by aspyra inc. a microcap stock with us 20 million market capitalization . 5 on august 28 2003 frederick eppinger was elected as president chief executive officer and director of allmerica financial corporation . 6 on september 18 2003 allmerica financial corporation announced that robert p. restrepo jr. had resigned as president of the allmerica property and casualty companies . 6 the hanover insurance group edit on december 1 2005 allmerica financial corporation changed its name to the hanover insurance group inc. and is the parent company of two divisions hanover insurance and citizens insurance . it publicly trades under its new ticker symbol since that time . those companies serve customers with auto home and business insurance . 1 the variable life and variable annuity insurance businesses of allmerica financial corporation became commonwealth annuity and life insurance company a goldman sachs company . 1 in january 2009 commonwealth annuity and life insurance company acquired first allmerica life insurance company faflic from the hanover group . 7 faflic includes closed blocks of traditional whole and term life insurance originally issued by state mutual life assurance company of worcester ma as well as variable annuities and variable universal life products sold in new york originally issued by state mutual assurance company . in 2008 the hanover insurance group acquired aix group . in 2011 the hanover insurance group acquired london based chaucer holdings . see also edit worth ave. group references edit a b c d allmerica financial corporation a b c d e f g h i j k standard & poor s stock guide various issues a b c d e allmerica property & casualty companies inc unscheduled material events 8 k exhibit 2 edgaronline sec form 8 k filing date 2 20 1997 analysts say allmerica financial came to market at a low price . new york times 10 13 1995 nyse euronext apy a b item 6 exhibits and reports on form 8k the hanover insurance group http www.allbusiness.com company activities management company structures ownership 11754155 1.html retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title hanover insurance & oldid 735914070 categories companies listed on the new york stock exchangecompanies established in 1852companies based in massachusettscompanies 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