Handelsbanken Fonder AB Increases Stake in The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV

Key Points

• Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in Travelers Companies by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, ending with 79,642 shares valued at about $23.1 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with several other large investors also adding to TRV, and hedge funds and other institutional investors now holding about 82.45% of the stock.
• Travelers recently reported strong quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates, and also announced a higher quarterly dividend of $1.25 per share plus a $5 billion share buyback authorization.

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV - Free Report) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,642 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 5,975 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Travelers Companies were worth $23,101,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRV. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its stake in Travelers Companies by 102.0% during the 4th 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. purchased a new stake in Travelers Companies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $112,051,000. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in Travelers Companies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $99,680,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Travelers Companies by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,785,288 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $496,872,000 after buying an additional 331,170 shares during the period. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in Travelers Companies by 258.5% during the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 372,513 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $99,662,000 after buying an additional 268,600 shares during the period. 82.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on TRV. Argus raised shares of Travelers Companies to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Brean Capital began coverage on shares of Travelers Companies in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $340.00 to $342.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $259.00 to $257.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $316.00 to $319.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Travelers Companies presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $309.13.

Travelers Companies Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE TRV opened at $307.02 on Thursday. 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $299.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $292.50. The company has a market capitalization of $65.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.50. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $249.19 and a 12 month high of $313.12.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $7.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.80 by $0.91. The firm had revenue of $11.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.11 billion. Travelers Companies had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 24.06%. The company's revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 28.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Travelers Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Travelers Companies's payout ratio is 13.09%.

Travelers Companies announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Travelers Companies

In related news, insider Avrohom J. Kess sold 6,735 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.78, for a total value of $2,079,633.30. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 48,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,049,010.86. This trade represents a 12.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Diane Kurtzman sold 2,867 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.45, for a total transaction of $869,991.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,298 shares in the company, valued at $1,607,678.10. This trade represents a 35.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 27,573 shares of company stock worth $8,427,646. Insiders own 1.39% of the company's stock.

Travelers Companies 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.

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