Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Boosts Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) Price Target to $340.00

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) had its price target raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $320.00 to $340.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price points to a potential upside of 11.55% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on TRV. Evercore upped their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $309.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $307.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Travelers Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Travelers Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.33.

Travelers Companies Stock Up 1.6%

NYSE:TRV opened at $304.80 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $65.91 billion, a price-to-earnings 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. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $287.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $280.38. Travelers Companies has a 52-week low of $230.43 and a 52-week high of $304.94.

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

Travelers Companies declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 21st that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the insurance provider to purchase up to 8.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Alan D. Schnitzer sold 55,733 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was 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 directly owned 260,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,718,956.30. This represents a 17.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.18, for a total transaction of $3,011,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 33,638 shares in the company, valued at $10,131,092.84. This trade represents a 22.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 101,765 shares of company stock valued at $29,877,543 over the last ninety days. 1.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TRV. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Travelers Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 1,820.0% in the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 96 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Travelers Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Delos Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Travelers Companies during the second quarter worth about $27,000. 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.