Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on TRV. Citigroup upped their price objective on Travelers Companies from $215.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Travelers Companies from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Roth Mkm restated a buy rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of Travelers Companies in a research report on Thursday. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Travelers Companies in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. They set a buy rating and a $215.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Travelers Companies from $222.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Travelers Companies has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $218.39.

Travelers Companies Stock Performance

TRV stock opened at $210.46 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $221.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Travelers Companies has a 12-month low of $157.33 and a 12-month high of $232.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.22 billion, a PE ratio of 15.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.58.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The insurance provider reported $4.69 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.75 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.62 billion. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 7.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.11 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Travelers Companies will post 17.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.05 per share. 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 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. Travelers Companies’s payout ratio is presently 29.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Travelers Companies news, CFO Daniel S. Frey sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.55, for a total transaction of $8,076,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,810 shares in the company, valued at $3,147,865.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP David Donnay Rowland sold 10,181 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.00, for a total value of $2,178,734.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,865 shares in the company, valued at $1,683,110. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Daniel S. Frey sold 38,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.55, for a total transaction of $8,076,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 14,810 shares in the company, valued at $3,147,865.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 109,775 shares of company stock worth $23,343,903 over the last three months. 1.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Travelers Companies

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Travelers Companies by 56.4% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,766,079 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,288,871,000 after buying an additional 2,440,650 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Travelers Companies in the 4th quarter worth $282,593,000. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 215.5% during the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 917,756 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $159,378,000 after purchasing an additional 626,837 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,575,759 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $747,267,000 after purchasing an additional 623,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Travelers Companies by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,284,693 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $615,847,000 after purchasing an additional 539,294 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.45% of the company’s stock.

About Travelers Companies

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.