Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 285,489 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,456 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.13% of Travelers Companies worth $75,500,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRV. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in 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 worth $844,854,000 after acquiring an additional 2,466,098 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Travelers Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $560,918,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in 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 worth $582,733,000 after acquiring an additional 2,196,426 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in 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 worth $360,694,000 after acquiring an additional 907,266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Travelers Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $138,619,000. 82.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on TRV. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Travelers Companies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Travelers Companies from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $269.00 price target on Travelers Companies and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Travelers Companies from $247.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Travelers Companies from $288.00 to $296.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $270.79.

Travelers Companies Trading Down 2.0%

TRV stock traded down $5.30 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $258.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,112,021 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,285,618. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $267.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $255.40. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $202.69 and a 1 year high of $277.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.09, a PEG ratio of 3.87 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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $1.38. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 16.10% and a net margin of 9.09%. The business had revenue of $10.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.69 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.02 EPS for the current year.

Travelers Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th were paid a $1.10 dividend. This is a positive change from Travelers Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. Travelers Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 9,044 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.17, for a total transaction of $2,479,593.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 33,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,222,530.46. This trade represents a 21.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Avrohom J. Kess sold 23,434 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.93, for a total value of $6,419,275.62. Following the transaction, the insider owned 48,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,254,650.91. This represents a 32.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 163,869 shares of company stock valued at $44,868,201. Insiders own 1.46% of the company's stock.

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.