Cantor Fitzgerald Issues Positive Forecast for Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) Stock Price

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) had its price target hoisted by Cantor Fitzgerald from $316.00 to $319.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has an overweight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

TRV has been the subject of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Travelers Companies from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Travelers Companies from $317.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Travelers Companies from $302.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Travelers Companies from $307.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Travelers Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $304.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Travelers Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $303.00.

Travelers Companies Price Performance

Travelers Companies stock opened at $285.70 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $284.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $277.11. Travelers Companies has a 12 month low of $230.43 and a 12 month high of $296.85. The company has a market capitalization of $63.73 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $8.34 by $2.79. The company had revenue of $12.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $9.15 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Travelers Companies will post 17.02 EPS for the current year.

Travelers Companies Dividend Announcement

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

Travelers Companies announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman William H. Heyman sold 1,803 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.55, for a total value of $522,058.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 255,086 shares in the company, valued at $73,860,151.30. The trade was a 0.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Daniel S. Frey sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.25, for a total transaction of $6,956,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 26,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,493,829. This represents a 48.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,435 shares of company stock valued at $15,366,736. Company insiders own 1.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Travelers Companies

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Travelers Companies by 1,820.0% in the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 96 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Travelers Companies in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 134.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 96 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Travelers Companies by 200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 104 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Finally, Clayton Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Travelers Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. 82.45% of the stock is currently 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.