Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Raises Stake in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) by 50.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,902 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,970 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Travelers Companies were worth $1,124,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in TRV. Grimes & Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 2,420 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $461,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Slow Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Travelers Companies by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Slow Capital Inc. now owns 18,115 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,451,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Travelers Companies by 25.5% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 295 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,605 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers Trust Co. grew its stake in Travelers Companies by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 1,523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TRV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Travelers Companies from $241.00 to $231.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Travelers Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. HSBC lifted their price target on Travelers Companies from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Travelers Companies from $253.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $223.47.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.96, for a total transaction of $2,139,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,798 shares in the company, valued at $4,877,860.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.96, for a total transaction of $2,139,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,877,860.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey P. Klenk sold 3,635 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.68, for a total value of $776,726.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,298,106. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 18,635 shares of company stock worth $3,980,827. Corporate insiders own 1.33% of the company’s stock.

Travelers Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TRV opened at $215.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $49.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $220.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $200.95. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $157.33 and a fifty-two week high of $232.75.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The insurance provider reported $4.69 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.75 by ($0.06). Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 7.32%. The firm had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.11 EPS. Travelers Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.71 EPS for the current year.

Travelers Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This is a boost from Travelers Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. Travelers Companies’s payout ratio is 29.72%.

Travelers Companies Company Profile

The Travelers Companies, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides a range of commercial and personal property, and casualty insurance products and services to businesses, government units, associations, and individuals in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Business Insurance, Bond & Specialty Insurance, and Personal Insurance.