The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $1.10

The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, July 18th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of 1.10 per share by the insurance provider on Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th.

Travelers Companies has a payout ratio of 17.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Travelers Companies to earn $23.09 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 19.1%.

Travelers Companies Price Performance

Shares of TRV traded up $3.96 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $265.77. 1,687,842 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,289,074. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $265.92 and a 200-day moving average of $256.35. Travelers Companies has a one year low of $203.21 and a one year high of $277.83. The firm has a market cap of $60.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The insurance provider reported $6.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $11.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.51 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Travelers Companies will post 17.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Travelers Companies

In related news, CEO Alan D. Schnitzer sold 35,456 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.78, for a total value of $9,707,143.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 262,329 shares in the company, valued at $71,820,433.62. The trade was a 11.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Daniel S. Frey sold 20,286 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.48, for a total transaction of $5,547,815.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 26,932 shares in the company, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 163,869 shares of company stock valued at $44,868,201. 1.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Travelers Companies

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Travelers Companies stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV - Free Report) by 13.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,277 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Travelers Companies were worth $789,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.45% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TRV has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays cut shares of Travelers Companies from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $280.00 to $274.00 in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $264.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $270.00 to $267.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $304.00 to $316.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $274.61.

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.