Empirical Asset Management LLC Invests $456,000 in The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV

Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,069 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $456,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of TRV. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension purchased a new position in shares of Travelers Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $24,167,000. Rit Capital Partners PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Travelers Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $39,450,000. UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,774,756 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $514,786,000 after buying an additional 89,159 shares in the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in Travelers Companies by 41.5% during the fourth quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 66,016 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $19,149,000 after buying an additional 19,347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft purchased a new position in Travelers Companies during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $576,000. 82.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on TRV shares. Roth Capital lifted their price objective on Travelers Companies from $345.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $295.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Seaport Research Partners set a $322.00 price objective on shares of Travelers Companies in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $356.00 price objective (up from $342.00) on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, HSBC boosted their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $321.00 to $351.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $354.26.

Travelers Companies Price Performance

Travelers Companies stock opened at $367.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $348.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $316.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.74 billion, a PE ratio of 9.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $252.26 and a 12-month high of $398.70.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The insurance provider reported $10.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.41 by $4.63. Travelers Companies had a net margin of 16.95% and a return on equity of 25.41%. The company had revenue of $12.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 33.82 EPS for the current year.

Travelers Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. Travelers Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 13.39%.

Insider Transactions at Travelers Companies

In other Travelers Companies news, CFO Daniel S. Frey sold 14,037 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.24, for a total transaction of $5,168,984.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 27,535 shares in the company, valued at $10,139,488.40. This trade represents a 33.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.65, for a total value of $3,076,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 45,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,882,706.25. This represents a 18.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 62,667 shares of company stock valued at $22,688,329. Company insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Travelers Companies Profile

The Travelers Companies, Inc (NYSE: TRV) is a leading provider of property and casualty insurance products and services. The company underwrites a broad range of commercial and personal insurance lines, offering coverage designed to protect individuals, small and midsize businesses, and large corporate clients against property loss, liability, and other operational risks. Travelers is known for combining underwriting, claims management and risk control services to help clients prevent losses and recover when incidents occur.

On the commercial side, Travelers writes primary and specialty coverages including property, general liability, commercial auto, workers’ compensation, professional and management liability, surety and inland marine.