Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 170,348 Shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV)

Key Points

• The Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its stake in The Travelers Companies by 55.5%, owning approximately 0.06% of the company, valued at $36.18 million after selling 170,348 shares.
• Several institutional investors increased their holdings in Travelers, with Bank of America Corp DE raising its stake by 236.9% in the last quarter, while GAMMA Investing LLC reported an astonishing 31,132.9% increase.
• The Travelers Companies reported $6.51 EPS for the last quarter, significantly surpassing analyst estimates, with a revenue increase of 7.4% year-over-year.

Bank of Nova Scotia lowered its position in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV - Free Report) by 55.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 136,799 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 170,348 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia owned about 0.06% of Travelers Companies worth $36,176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in Travelers Companies by 700.0% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 96 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Travelers Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Travelers Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Travelers Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Travelers Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.45% of the company's stock.

Travelers Companies Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of TRV traded up $1.36 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $264.36. 209,148 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,339,562. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $207.32 and a 1 year high of $277.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.70, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.51. The business's 50-day moving average price is $263.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $258.11.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The insurance provider reported $6.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.52 by $2.99. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 18.68% and a net margin of 10.97%. The firm had revenue of $11.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.51 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Travelers Companies's payout ratio is 19.46%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jeffrey P. Klenk sold 15,180 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.87, for a total transaction of $4,142,166.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,657,685.25. The trade was a 71.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Alan D. Schnitzer sold 35,456 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.78, for a total value of $9,707,143.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 262,329 shares in the company, valued at $71,820,433.62. This trade represents a 11.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 175,374 shares of company stock valued at $47,929,912. 1.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Travelers Companies from $304.00 to $316.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Travelers Companies from $275.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Travelers Companies from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays cut Travelers Companies from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $280.00 to $274.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $269.00 price target on Travelers Companies and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Travelers Companies has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $279.82.

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.