Janney Montgomery Scott Downgrades Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) to Neutral

Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $280.00 price objective on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $245.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $207.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Roth Mkm boosted their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $240.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Travelers Companies from $216.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Travelers Companies from $250.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Travelers Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $251.15.

Travelers Companies Price Performance

Shares of TRV opened at $262.47 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $246.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $226.06. Travelers Companies has a 1-year low of $175.88 and a 1-year high of $269.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.62.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The insurance provider reported $5.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $1.45. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 17.69% and a net margin of 10.02%. The business had revenue of $11.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.95 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Travelers Companies will post 18.68 EPS for the current year.

Travelers Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Travelers Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.54%.

Insider Transactions at Travelers Companies

In related news, EVP Maria Olivo sold 10,410 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.80, for a total transaction of $2,725,338.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 111,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,102,211.60. The trade was a 8.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 value of $1,145,639.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 74,409 shares of company stock valued at $19,305,504 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Travelers Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TRV. Cetera Investment Advisers grew 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 purchasing an additional 35,560 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 162.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,926 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,002,000 after acquiring an additional 3,050 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Travelers Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $17,303,000. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 75.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 10,996 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,531,000 after acquiring an additional 4,724 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Travelers Companies in the first quarter valued at about $26,618,000. 82.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.