Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on the stock from $320.00 to $340.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Travelers Companies traded as high as $304.94 and last traded at $304.7970, with a volume of 1346883 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $299.90.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Travelers Companies from $302.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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 report on Wednesday, January 7th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $307.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.33.

Insider Activity at Travelers Companies

In related news, CEO Alan D. Schnitzer sold 55,733 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.70, for a total transaction of $16,424,515.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 260,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,718,956.30. The trade was a 17.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Maria Olivo sold 10,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.75, for a total transaction of $3,127,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 117,596 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,366,997. This represents a 8.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 101,765 shares of company stock worth $29,877,543. 1.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Travelers Companies

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,109,933 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,413,207,000 after buying an additional 110,311 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,000,457 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,641,093,000 after acquiring an additional 486,861 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Travelers Companies by 1.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,746,231 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,162,917,000 after acquiring an additional 119,481 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Travelers Companies by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,541,819 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,481,805,000 after purchasing an additional 54,363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Travelers Companies by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,793,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,100,416,000 after purchasing an additional 85,298 shares in the last quarter. 82.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Travelers Companies Stock Up 1.6%

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $287.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $280.38. The stock has a market cap of $65.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $11.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.34 by $2.79. The company had revenue of $12.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.13 billion. Travelers Companies had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.15 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. Travelers Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.98%.

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

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.