Burford Brothers Inc. Makes New $955,000 Investment in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV)

Burford Brothers Inc. bought a new stake in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,613 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $955,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 236.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,507,219 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $844,854,000 after acquiring an additional 2,466,098 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Travelers Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $560,918,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 31,132.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,203,481 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $582,733,000 after acquiring an additional 2,196,426 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 153.8% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,497,339 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $360,694,000 after acquiring an additional 907,266 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,329,232 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $801,979,000 after acquiring an additional 364,379 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.45% of the company's stock.

Travelers Companies Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE TRV traded down $1.73 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $254.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 782,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,287,687. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $202.95 and a fifty-two week high of $277.83. 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 50 day simple moving average of $267.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $255.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.84, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.51.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $1.38. Travelers Companies had a net margin of 9.09% and a return on equity of 16.10%. The business had revenue of $10.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.97 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.69 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Travelers Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th were paid a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 10th. This is a boost from Travelers Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Travelers Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Maria Olivo sold 36,199 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.20, for a total value of $9,925,765.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 118,116 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,387,407.20. This trade represents a 23.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Alan D. Schnitzer sold 35,456 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.78, for a total transaction of $9,707,143.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 262,329 shares of the company's stock, valued at $71,820,433.62. This represents a 11.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 163,869 shares of company stock valued at $44,868,201 in the last ninety days. 1.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TRV has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $290.00 to $303.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Travelers Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $270.00 to $267.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Travelers Companies from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $280.00 to $274.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $271.00.

Travelers Companies Profile

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.