Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) EVP Jeffrey Klenk Sells 6,414 Shares

The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) EVP Jeffrey Klenk sold 6,414 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.06, for a total value of $1,956,654.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,075 shares in the company, valued at $1,853,239.50. This trade represents a 51.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Travelers Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Travelers Companies stock traded up $0.61 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $301.39. 2,183,711 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,605,191. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $249.19 and a 1 year high of $313.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.97, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $299.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $288.26.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $7.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.80 by $0.91. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 24.06% and a net margin of 15.54%.The company had revenue of $11.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.91 earnings per share. Travelers Companies’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 27.37 EPS for the current year.

Travelers Companies announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 21st that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to purchase up to 8.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Travelers Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is a boost from Travelers Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 10th. Travelers Companies’s payout ratio is 13.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TRV. Norges Bank bought a new position in Travelers Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $723,339,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Travelers Companies by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,000,457 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,641,093,000 after acquiring an additional 486,861 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 102.0% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 908,559 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $263,537,000 after buying an additional 458,746 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Travelers Companies in the third quarter worth about $112,051,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 1,641.3% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 379,480 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $105,537,000 after buying an additional 357,687 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Travelers Companies from $259.00 to $257.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Travelers Companies from $297.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Brean Capital started coverage on Travelers Companies in a report on Thursday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on Travelers Companies from $312.00 to $331.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $309.13.

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.