PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators Acquires New Holdings in The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV

Key Points

• PBU, the Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators, disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Travelers Companies, buying 39,202 shares valued at about $11.37 million.
• Travelers reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $7.71 beating estimates and revenue of $11.92 billion topping analyst expectations, though revenue was still down slightly year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.25 per share from $1.10, while analysts currently rate the stock a Hold on average with a consensus price target of $311.47.

PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators acquired a new stake in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 39,202 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $11,371,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension bought a new position in shares of Travelers Companies in the fourth quarter worth $24,167,000. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its stake in Travelers Companies by 21.7% during the third quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 48,247 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $13,472,000 after buying an additional 8,600 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 24.9% during the third quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 34,871 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $9,737,000 after purchasing an additional 6,954 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in Travelers Companies by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 901,938 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $261,616,000 after purchasing an additional 133,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in Travelers Companies by 192.8% during the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 135,330 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $37,787,000 after purchasing an additional 89,108 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.45% of the company's stock.

Travelers Companies Price Performance

Shares of TRV stock opened at $303.13 on Friday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $299.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $294.00. 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 has a market cap of $64.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.48. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $249.19 and a one year high of $313.12.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $7.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.80 by $0.91. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 24.06% and a net margin of 15.54%.The business had revenue of $11.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.91 EPS. Travelers Companies's quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Travelers Companies

In other news, Vice Chairman William H. Heyman sold 1,557 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.64, for a total transaction of $483,666.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 259,590 shares in the company, valued at $80,639,037.60. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.65, for a total value of $3,076,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 45,125 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,882,706.25. This trade represents a 18.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 37,573 shares of company stock valued at $11,504,146 over the last quarter. 1.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TRV has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Travelers Companies from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $316.00 to $322.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (a-)" rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Travelers Companies from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Seaport Research Partners set a $322.00 target price on Travelers Companies in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Travelers Companies from $312.00 to $331.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $311.47.

Travelers Companies Company 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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