Legal & General Group Plc Purchases 41,769 Shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Travelers Companies by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, buying 41,769 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 1,711,785 shares worth about $496.5 million.
• Travelers reported strong quarterly earnings, with EPS of $7.71 beating estimates by $0.91 and revenue of $11.92 billion topping expectations. Analysts now forecast full-year EPS of 28.03.
• The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.25 per share from $1.10, implying an annualized payout of $5.00 and a yield of 1.6%.

Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,711,785 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 41,769 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.77% of Travelers Companies worth $496,520,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Travelers Companies by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,109,933 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $6,413,207,000 after purchasing an additional 110,311 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Travelers Companies by 1.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,746,231 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,162,917,000 after purchasing an additional 119,481 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Travelers Companies by 22.8% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,785,288 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $496,872,000 after purchasing an additional 331,170 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,774,756 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $514,786,000 after buying an additional 89,159 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 1.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,569,670 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $438,283,000 after buying an additional 21,892 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.45% of the company's stock.

Travelers Companies Stock Performance

Shares of TRV opened at $306.67 on Tuesday. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $249.19 and a 12 month high of $313.12. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $299.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $293.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

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

Travelers Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. This is an increase from Travelers Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 10th. Travelers Companies's payout ratio is currently 13.09%.

Insider Activity

In other Travelers Companies news, insider Avrohom J. Kess sold 6,735 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.78, for a total transaction of $2,079,633.30. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 48,737 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,049,010.86. This represents a 12.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.77, for a total transaction of $3,037,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 45,125 shares in the company, valued at $13,707,621.25. This trade represents a 18.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 27,573 shares of company stock valued at $8,427,646. 1.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on TRV. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $297.00 to $314.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (a-)" rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a report on Friday, May 8th. Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Brean Capital began coverage on shares of Travelers Companies in a report on Thursday, March 12th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Two research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $309.13.

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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