Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) Stock

Key Points

• Wells Fargo raised its price target on Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) from $295 to $334, while keeping an equal weight rating on the stock.
• Other analysts were mixed: JPMorgan upgraded TRV to neutral, Barclays cut it to underweight, and UBS lifted its target to $350. Overall, the consensus rating remains Hold with an average target price of $328.76.
• Travelers recently posted strong quarterly results, with EPS of $7.71 beating estimates and revenue of $11.92 billion topping forecasts. Despite insider selling, institutional investors continue to hold the vast majority of the shares.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV - Get Free Report) had its target price upped by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $295.00 to $334.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "equal weight" rating on the insurance provider's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target would indicate a potential downside of 0.73% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on TRV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Travelers Companies from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $316.00 to $322.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Barclays lowered shares of Travelers Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $331.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research report on Monday. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $259.00 to $257.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $314.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $328.76.

Travelers Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TRV traded down $1.49 on Thursday, reaching $336.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 611,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,636,328. Travelers Companies has a 52-week low of $249.19 and a 52-week high of $349.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.02, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.46. The stock's 50-day moving average is $308.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $299.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $7.71 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $11.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.91 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Travelers Companies will post 28.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Travelers Companies news, EVP Diane Kurtzman sold 2,867 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.45, for a total transaction of $869,991.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,607,678.10. The trade was a 35.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.65, for a total transaction of $3,076,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 45,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,882,706.25. This trade represents a 18.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 37,573 shares of company stock valued at $11,504,146 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.39% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,109,933 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,413,207,000 after acquiring an additional 110,311 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Travelers Companies by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,000,457 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $4,641,093,000 after purchasing an additional 486,861 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Travelers Companies by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,793,750 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,100,416,000 after purchasing an additional 85,298 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Travelers Companies by 3.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,484,676 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,016,433,000 after purchasing an additional 123,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Travelers Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $723,339,000. 82.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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