Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

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

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on TRV. William Blair reissued a market perform rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Friday, June 28th. TD Cowen cut Travelers Companies from a buy rating to a hold rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $252.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, July 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Travelers Companies in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an overweight rating and a $286.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Travelers Companies presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $227.05.

Travelers Companies Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE TRV opened at $238.53 on Friday. Travelers Companies has a 12-month low of $157.33 and a 12-month high of $243.48. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $221.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $217.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $54.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.62.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The insurance provider reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.23 by ($0.72). The company had revenue of $11.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.35 billion. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 8.37%. Travelers Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.06 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Travelers Companies will post 17.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. Travelers Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 31.20%.

Insider Activity at Travelers Companies

In other Travelers Companies news, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.44, for a total transaction of $2,114,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,820,409.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Travelers Companies

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of TRV. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Travelers Companies by 38.7% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 342,288 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $78,689,000 after purchasing an additional 95,451 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV bought a new position in shares of Travelers Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,973,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 356.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 45,541 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,481,000 after acquiring an additional 35,560 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Travelers Companies by 100.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 50,910 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,698,000 after acquiring an additional 25,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in Travelers Companies by 552.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 166,059 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,631,000 after purchasing an additional 140,622 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.