Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 143,972 Shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) by 85.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,999 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 143,972 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Travelers Companies were worth $6,701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in TRV. Avalon Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 23.4% in the second quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 7,541 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,018,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429 shares during the last quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 21.7% during the third quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 48,247 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $13,472,000 after purchasing an additional 8,600 shares during the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 32.3% during the third quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 26,228 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,323,000 after purchasing an additional 6,408 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 1.8% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 746,883 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $208,545,000 after purchasing an additional 13,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Travelers Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $7,955,000. 82.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Travelers Companies news, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.18, for a total transaction of $3,011,800.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey P. Klenk sold 16,712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.77, for a total value of $4,675,516.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,699,602.75. The trade was a 73.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 92,845 shares of company stock worth $27,239,631. 1.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Travelers Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TRV opened at $303.02 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $65.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $291.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $283.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $230.43 and a fifty-two week high of $313.12.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $11.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.34 by $2.79. The firm had revenue of $12.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.13 billion. Travelers Companies had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.70%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $9.15 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors 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 1.5%. Travelers Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TRV has been the topic of several research reports. Zacks Research downgraded Travelers Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Roth Mkm lifted their target price on Travelers Companies from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore raised their price target on Travelers Companies from $309.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Travelers Companies from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Travelers Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.33.

Travelers Companies Company Profile

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.