Bank of America Cuts Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) Price Target to $257.00

Key Points

• Bank of America cut its price target on Travelers from $259 to $257 and maintained an underperform rating, implying roughly a 14.18% downside from the recent share price.
• Analyst views are mixed: MarketBeat shows a consensus Hold with an average target of $308.64, while firms like Wells Fargo and Evercore have raised targets into the $300s and Goldman trimmed its rating to neutral.
• Fundamentals: Travelers beat quarterly expectations with $11.13 EPS (vs. $8.34 expected) and $12.43B revenue, and the board authorized a $5 billion share buyback, even as insiders have been selling shares recently.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV - Get Free Report) had its price objective decreased by equities researchers at Bank of America from $259.00 to $257.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "underperform" rating on the insurance provider's stock. Bank of America's target price indicates a potential downside of 14.18% from the company's current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on TRV. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Travelers Companies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $304.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Brean Capital began coverage on Travelers Companies in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Travelers Companies from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Evercore lifted their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $309.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $308.64.

Travelers Companies Stock Down 0.6%

TRV stock traded down $1.84 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $299.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 318,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,575,747. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $299.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $287.49. Travelers Companies has a 12 month low of $247.81 and a 12 month high of $313.12. The company has a market capitalization of $63.68 billion, a PE ratio of 10.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $11.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $8.34 by $2.79. The business had revenue of $12.43 billion for 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%. Travelers Companies's revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $9.15 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Travelers Companies will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Travelers Companies declared that its board has authorized a stock 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 reacquire up to 8.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Travelers Companies news, CEO Alan D. Schnitzer sold 55,733 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.70, for a total value of $16,424,515.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 260,329 shares of the company's stock, valued at $76,718,956.30. This trade represents a 17.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.18, for a total value of $3,011,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 33,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,131,092.84. This represents a 22.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 92,845 shares of company stock worth $27,239,631 in the last 90 days. 1.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Travelers Companies

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of TRV. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Travelers Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $723,339,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Travelers Companies by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,000,457 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $4,641,093,000 after buying an additional 486,861 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its stake in Travelers Companies by 102.0% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 908,559 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $263,537,000 after acquiring an additional 458,746 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Travelers Companies during the third quarter valued at about $112,051,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Travelers Companies by 1,641.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 379,480 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $105,537,000 after acquiring an additional 357,687 shares in the last quarter. 82.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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