The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV Shares Bought by Garner Asset Management Corp

Garner Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,667 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,899 shares during the period. Travelers Companies makes up approximately 1.4% of Garner Asset Management Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Garner Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Travelers Companies were worth $3,537,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Travelers Companies by 1,820.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 96 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Travelers Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 134.1% during the third quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 96 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 200.0% during the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 104 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Finally, Clayton Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Travelers Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Travelers Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Travelers Companies from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $315.00 to $304.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their target price on Travelers Companies from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Travelers Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.33.

Travelers Companies Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of Travelers Companies stock opened at $304.80 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $287.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $280.38. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.43 and a 12-month high of $304.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $65.91 billion, a PE ratio of 11.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.51.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $11.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.34 by $2.79. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 20.70% and a net margin of 12.88%.The business had revenue of $12.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.15 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Travelers Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.98%.

Travelers Companies announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to reacquire up to 8.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Travelers Companies

In other news, EVP Jeffrey P. Klenk sold 16,712 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.77, for a total transaction of $4,675,516.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,699,602.75. The trade was a 73.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.18, for a total transaction of $3,011,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 33,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,131,092.84. The trade was a 22.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 101,765 shares of company stock worth $29,877,543. Corporate insiders own 1.46% of the company’s stock.

About Travelers Companies

The Travelers Companies, Inc (NYSE: TRV) is a leading provider of property and casualty insurance products and services. The company underwrites a broad range of commercial and personal insurance lines, offering coverage designed to protect individuals, small and midsize businesses, and large corporate clients against property loss, liability, and other operational risks. Travelers is known for combining underwriting, claims management and risk control services to help clients prevent losses and recover when incidents occur.

On the commercial side, Travelers writes primary and specialty coverages including property, general liability, commercial auto, workers’ compensation, professional and management liability, surety and inland marine.