Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

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

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on TRV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $220.00 to $242.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Travelers Companies from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $252.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. William Blair reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Travelers Companies in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $202.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $227.05.

Travelers Companies Trading Up 0.3 %

TRV stock opened at $239.35 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $54.81 billion, a PE ratio of 17.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.62. Travelers Companies has a one year low of $157.33 and a one year high of $243.48. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $221.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $217.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The insurance provider reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.23 by ($0.72). The business had revenue of $11.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.35 billion. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 8.37%. The company’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.06 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Travelers Companies will post 17.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a $1.05 dividend. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. Travelers Companies’s payout ratio is 31.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Travelers Companies news, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.44, for a total transaction of $2,114,400.00. Following 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Travelers Companies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Travelers Companies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $94,000. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 2,973 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $605,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Travelers Companies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $470,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Travelers Companies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $9,798,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Travelers Companies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $67,000. 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.