Invesco Ltd. Sells 82,677 Shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV)

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. reduced its stake in The Travelers Companies by 5.8%, selling 82,677 shares during the first quarter, leaving it with 1,353,080 shares valued at approximately $357.8 million.
• CFO Daniel S. Frey and CEO Alan D. Schnitzer have both sold significant shares of the company, representing decreases of 42.96% and 11.91% in their respective positions.
• The Travelers Companies reported a strong quarterly earnings performance with $6.51 earnings per share, exceeding estimates by $2.99 and also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.10 per share for shareholders.

Invesco Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV - Free Report) by 5.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,353,080 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 82,677 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.60% of Travelers Companies worth $357,836,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bearing Point Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Bearing Point Capital LLC now owns 1,973 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $522,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 4,428 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,171,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 13.9% in the 1st quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 319 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 7,321 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,936,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Financial Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,576 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,739,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. 82.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Travelers Companies news, insider Avrohom J. Kess sold 23,434 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.93, for a total transaction of $6,419,275.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 48,387 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,254,650.91. The trade was a 32.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Daniel S. Frey sold 20,286 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.48, for a total value of $5,547,815.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 26,932 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,365,363.36. This trade represents a 42.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 175,374 shares of company stock valued at $47,929,912. 1.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Travelers Companies Price Performance

Travelers Companies stock traded down $3.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $265.57. 1,295,665 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,253,062. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $215.39 and a 52-week high of $277.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $262.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $259.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $59.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.51.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The insurance provider reported $6.51 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $11.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.51 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.7%. Travelers Companies's payout ratio is 19.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on TRV shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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. Barclays downgraded Travelers Companies from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $280.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Travelers Companies in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $291.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Travelers Companies from $264.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Travelers Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Travelers Companies has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $284.56.

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.