Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) Earns Underweight Rating from Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company reiterated their underweight rating on shares of Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $217.00 price objective on the insurance provider’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $256.00.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $250.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Travelers Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America boosted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $216.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of Travelers Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $280.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Travelers Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $251.70.

Travelers Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TRV opened at $246.30 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $252.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $230.03. Travelers Companies has a one year low of $181.03 and a one year high of $269.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.51, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.63.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The insurance provider reported $5.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 in the previous year, the business posted $1.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Travelers Companies will post 18.84 EPS for the current year.

Travelers Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders 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 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. Travelers Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Travelers Companies

In related news, EVP Andy F. Bessette sold 4,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,302,736.96. This represents a 21.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Alan D. Schnitzer sold 40,524 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.12, for a total transaction of $10,541,102.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 221,924 shares in the company, valued at $57,726,870.88. The trade was a 15.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Travelers Companies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Travelers Companies during the second quarter worth approximately $9,798,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 34.6% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 18,144 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,248,000 after acquiring an additional 4,665 shares in the last quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 14.3% in the second quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC now owns 12,189 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,479,000 after acquiring an additional 1,528 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 7.4% in the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 177,528 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $36,099,000 after acquiring an additional 12,190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 5.4% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 264,320 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $53,747,000 after acquiring an additional 13,639 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.