The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nineteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $306.7857.

TRV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore lifted their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $309.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Travelers Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $304.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Brean Capital started coverage on shares of Travelers Companies in a report on Thursday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th.

Travelers Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TRV opened at $291.56 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33. Travelers Companies has a 1-year low of $230.43 and a 1-year high of $313.12. The company has a market capitalization of $63.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50-day moving average of $296.36 and a 200-day moving average of $286.16.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $11.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.34 by $2.79. The business had revenue of $12.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.13 billion. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 20.70% and a net margin of 12.88%.The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.15 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Travelers Companies will post 17.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 21st that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to reacquire up to 8.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th were issued a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Travelers Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Travelers Companies news, EVP Maria Olivo sold 10,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.75, for a total value of $3,127,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 117,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,366,997. This represents a 8.13% decrease in their position. 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 the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.18, for a total value of $3,011,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 33,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,131,092.84. This trade represents a 22.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 92,845 shares of company stock valued at $27,239,631 over the last 90 days. 1.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,109,933 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,413,207,000 after purchasing an additional 110,311 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Travelers Companies by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,000,457 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,641,093,000 after purchasing an additional 486,861 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Travelers Companies by 1.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,746,231 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,162,917,000 after buying an additional 119,481 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Travelers Companies by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,793,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,100,416,000 after buying an additional 85,298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Travelers Companies by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,361,112 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $974,993,000 after buying an additional 81,497 shares in the last quarter. 82.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Travelers Companies

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.