Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) Rating Increased to Buy at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) from a sell rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has $278.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays cut their price target on Travelers Companies from $295.00 to $278.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded Travelers Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $280.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Travelers Companies from $245.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $250.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Travelers Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $254.85.

Travelers Companies Stock Down 4.2 %

TRV opened at $232.53 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $52.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.92, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $250.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $234.59. Travelers Companies has a 52 week low of $191.88 and a 52 week high of $269.55. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The insurance provider reported $5.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $1.45. The company had revenue of $11.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.46 billion. Travelers Companies had a net margin of 10.02% and a return on equity of 17.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.95 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Travelers Companies will post 18.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. Travelers Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman William H. Heyman sold 3,740 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.80, for a total transaction of $990,352.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 250,384 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,301,683.20. This trade represents a 1.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Alan D. Schnitzer sold 40,524 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 221,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $57,726,870.88. This represents a 15.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 78,149 shares of company stock worth $20,295,856 in the last quarter. 1.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Travelers Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TRV. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new stake in Travelers Companies during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its holdings in Travelers Companies by 39.1% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 160 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Travelers Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Travelers Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 581.1% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 252 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. 82.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Travelers Companies Company Profile

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.