StockNews.com Downgrades Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $207.00 to $256.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $216.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $241.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $251.15.

Travelers Companies Price Performance

Travelers Companies stock opened at $266.66 on Wednesday. Travelers Companies has a 52-week low of $175.88 and a 52-week high of $269.55. The company’s 50 day moving average is $248.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $226.96. The firm has a market cap of $60.54 billion, a PE ratio of 13.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The insurance provider reported $5.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $1.45. Travelers Companies had a net margin of 10.02% and a return on equity of 17.69%. The business had revenue of $11.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.46 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Travelers Companies will post 18.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a $1.05 dividend. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. Travelers Companies’s payout ratio is 21.54%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Alan D. Schnitzer sold 40,524 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.12, for a total value of $10,541,102.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 221,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,726,870.88. The trade was a 15.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman William H. Heyman sold 2,014 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $523,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 250,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,099,840. The trade was a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 78,149 shares of company stock valued at $20,295,856 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Travelers Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Travelers Companies by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,566,941 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,644,532,000 after buying an additional 120,228 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Travelers Companies by 12.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,048,691 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,289,079,000 after buying an additional 1,568,909 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Travelers Companies by 2.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,076,220 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,187,865,000 after buying an additional 114,714 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Travelers Companies by 5.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,044,839 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $619,241,000 after buying an additional 165,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Travelers Companies by 1.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,334,882 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $474,774,000 after buying an additional 37,029 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.