Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV – Get Rating) in a report published on Thursday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised Travelers Companies from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and increased their price target for the stock from $183.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 10th. Barclays cut their target price on Travelers Companies from $197.00 to $196.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Travelers Companies from $180.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Travelers Companies from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 22nd. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on Travelers Companies from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Travelers Companies has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $189.71.

Travelers Companies Trading Down 4.2 %

Shares of NYSE:TRV opened at $165.03 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.61. Travelers Companies has a 1 year low of $149.65 and a 1 year high of $194.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $184.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.68.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 24th. The insurance provider reported $3.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40. The business had revenue of $8.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.78 billion. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 7.71%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.20 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Travelers Companies will post 14.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 9th. Travelers Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Gregory C. Toczydlowski sold 5,420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.19, for a total transaction of $998,309.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,392,043.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Travelers Companies news, Vice Chairman William H. Heyman sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.42, for a total transaction of $1,722,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 251,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,162,229.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gregory C. Toczydlowski sold 5,420 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.19, for a total value of $998,309.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 18,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,392,043.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 188,163 shares of company stock valued at $35,402,200 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Travelers Companies

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of TRV. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in Travelers Companies during the 1st quarter worth about $160,000. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its holdings in Travelers Companies by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 5,934 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,084,000 after acquiring an additional 1,327 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 11,905 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,210,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL grew its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 40.6% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 51,551 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $9,420,000 after buying an additional 14,873 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 27,212 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,952,000 after buying an additional 1,286 shares during the period. 81.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Travelers Companies Company Profile

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The Travelers Cos., Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of commercial and personal property and casualty insurance products and services. It operates through the following business segments: Business Insurance, Bond and Specialty Insurance, and Personal Insurance. The Business Insurance segment provides an array of property and casualty insurance, and insurance related services to its customers primarily in the U.S., as well as in Canada, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and throughout other parts of the world as a corporate member of Lloyd’s.