Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on TRV. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $220.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Travelers Companies from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Travelers Companies from $253.00 to $250.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Oppenheimer restated a market perform rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on Travelers Companies from $261.00 to $252.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Travelers Companies currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $223.47.

Travelers Companies Stock Performance

Shares of TRV stock opened at $212.85 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business has a 50 day moving average of $221.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $199.28. The company has a market cap of $48.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.81, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.58. Travelers Companies has a 52 week low of $157.33 and a 52 week high of $232.75.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The insurance provider reported $4.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.75 by ($0.06). Travelers Companies had a net margin of 7.32% and a return on equity of 13.94%. The company had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.11 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Travelers Companies will post 17.74 EPS for the current year.

Travelers Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. This is a boost from Travelers Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Travelers Companies’s payout ratio is currently 31.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Travelers Companies news, CFO Daniel S. Frey sold 5,000 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.90, for a total value of $1,064,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,515 shares in the company, valued at $3,941,843.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Daniel S. Frey sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.90, for a total transaction of $1,064,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,941,843.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.96, for a total value of $2,139,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,877,860.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 67,681 shares of company stock worth $14,427,504 in the last ninety days. 1.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Travelers Companies

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. raised its stake in Travelers Companies by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 111,547 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $18,217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 124.9% during the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 13,775 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,660,000 after buying an additional 7,649 shares in the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Travelers Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $2,201,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Travelers Companies by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 246,837 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $46,919,000 after acquiring an additional 16,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS boosted its position in Travelers Companies by 53.5% during the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 69,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $13,240,000 after acquiring an additional 24,230 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.45% of the company’s stock.

About Travelers Companies

The Travelers Companies, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides a range of commercial and personal property, and casualty insurance products and services to businesses, government units, associations, and individuals in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Business Insurance, Bond & Specialty Insurance, and Personal Insurance.