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Heartland Advisors, an investment management company, released its “Heartland Value Plus Fund” first quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The fund declined 8.23% in the quarter, compared to a 7.7% loss for the Russell 2000 Value Index. The firm believes, this is a patient market, as expectations of better demand dynamics were put on hold during the quarter due to slowdown fears. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2025.
In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, Heartland Value Plus Fund highlighted stocks such as The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG). The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) is a US-based insurance company that offers various property and casualty insurance products and services. The one-month return of The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) was -5.48%, and its shares gained 27.09% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On April 17, 2025, The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) stock closed at $161.67 per share with a market capitalization of $5.826 billion.
Heartland Value Plus Fund stated the following regarding The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:
"A key focus of our selectivity has been driven by self-help. An example is The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG), a property and casualty insurer. The company stumbled in recent years, thanks to heavy exposure to the upper Midwest, which has been hit with severe weather including deadly hailstorms. After falling short of earnings estimates recently due to the cost of damaging storms, the company has been taking steps to reduce its exposure to catastrophic events — for instance by writing less insurance in at-risk geographies and raising deductibles. THG has also made other money-saving moves, such as requiring customers to use sensors for early detection of water leaks in their homes. Those efforts led to strong fourth quarter results. In Q4, catastrophic losses contributed just 2.1% of Hanover’s combined ratio, a key measure of profitability. That was substantially less than it has been in recent years.
A woman in her car checking her insurance documents with a satisfied smile.