Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) Reaches New 1-Year High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• The Travelers Companies' stock reached a new 52-week high, trading at $284.45 with a significant volume of 54,646 shares.
• Recent analyst reports show mixed ratings, with Barclays downgrading the stock, while Citigroup set a new price target of $291.
• The company reported strong quarterly earnings, exceeding expectations with $6.51 EPS and total revenue of $11.54 billion, which marked a 7.4% increase year-over-year.

The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $284.00 and last traded at $284.45, with a volume of 54646 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $280.04.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TRV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays cut shares of Travelers Companies from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $280.00 to $274.00 in a report on Monday, July 7th. Citigroup started coverage on Travelers Companies in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $291.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered Travelers Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Travelers Companies from $275.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $284.56.

Travelers Companies Stock Performance

The firm's 50-day moving average price is $271.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $265.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.20 billion, a PE ratio of 12.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The insurance provider reported $6.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.52 by $2.99. The business had revenue of $11.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.02 billion. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 18.68% and a net margin of 10.97%.Travelers Companies's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.51 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th were paid a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Travelers Companies's payout ratio is presently 19.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Gregory C. Toczydlowski sold 11,505 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.12, for a total transaction of $3,061,710.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,416 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,865.92. The trade was a 38.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Mojgan M. Lefebvre sold 16,820 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.54, for a total transaction of $4,668,222.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.46% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Travelers Companies

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TRV. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Travelers Companies by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,047,005 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $5,898,456,000 after purchasing an additional 313,449 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Travelers Companies by 10.9% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,626,750 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,040,475,000 after acquiring an additional 751,715 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Travelers Companies by 1.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,541,819 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,481,805,000 after buying an additional 54,363 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 71,265.9% in the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,616,826 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $967,646,000 after acquiring an additional 3,611,758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,403,539 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $899,988,000 after acquiring an additional 25,573 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.45% 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.

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