Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) Earns “Sector Perform” Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reissued their sector perform rating on shares of Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $268.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock, down from their prior price target of $273.00.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on TRV. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $295.00 to $278.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Travelers Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Travelers Companies from $273.00 to $268.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Roth Mkm raised their price target on Travelers Companies from $240.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Travelers Companies from $244.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $255.53.

Travelers Companies Stock Performance

Shares of TRV stock opened at $241.75 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $54.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.65. Travelers Companies has a 1-year low of $200.21 and a 1-year high of $269.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $248.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $236.77.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $9.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.50 by $2.65. The company had revenue of $12.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10,795,375 billion. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 19.06% and a net margin of 10.77%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $7.01 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Travelers Companies will post 20.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Travelers Companies’s payout ratio is presently 19.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Vice Chairman William H. Heyman sold 3,740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.80, for a total transaction of $990,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 250,384 shares in the company, valued at $66,301,683.20. This represents a 1.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Andy F. Bessette sold 4,520 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.46, for a total transaction of $1,145,639.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,302,736.96. This trade represents a 21.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,670 shares of company stock valued at $4,861,329. Insiders own 1.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Travelers Companies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 39.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 135,957 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $32,646,000 after purchasing an additional 38,515 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Travelers Companies during the second quarter worth $9,798,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Travelers Companies by 34.6% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 18,144 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,248,000 after buying an additional 4,665 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 49,223 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $11,857,000 after buying an additional 2,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Travelers Companies during the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. 82.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.