Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) Price Target Raised to $305.00

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) had its price objective raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $285.00 to $305.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

TRV has been the subject of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Travelers Companies from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Travelers Companies to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Argus upgraded Travelers Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Travelers Companies from $312.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Travelers Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $312.62.

Travelers Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TRV opened at $297.69 on Thursday. Travelers Companies has a twelve month low of $240.44 and a twelve month high of $313.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market capitalization of $63.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $298.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $287.23.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last issued 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 business had revenue of $12.43 billion during 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 business’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 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Travelers Companies will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Travelers Companies declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 21st that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to buy up to 8.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Travelers Companies Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Travelers Companies news, EVP Jeffrey P. Klenk sold 16,712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.77, for a total transaction of $4,675,516.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,699,602.75. The trade was a 73.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Alan D. Schnitzer sold 55,733 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.70, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 17.63% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 92,845 shares of company stock worth $27,239,631. Insiders own 1.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Travelers Companies

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TRV. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its position in Travelers Companies by 21.7% during the third quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 48,247 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $13,472,000 after buying an additional 8,600 shares during the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC increased its position in Travelers Companies by 32.3% during the third quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 26,228 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,323,000 after buying an additional 6,408 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its position in Travelers Companies by 1.8% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 746,883 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $208,545,000 after buying an additional 13,120 shares during the last quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. acquired a new position in Travelers Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $7,955,000. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its position in Travelers Companies by 24.9% during the third quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 34,871 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,737,000 after buying an additional 6,954 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.45% of the company’s stock.

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.