Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) Earns “Sell” Rating from Citigroup

Citigroup reaffirmed their sell rating on shares of Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) in a research report report published on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $200.00 target price on the insurance provider’s stock, down from their previous target price of $226.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on TRV. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Monday, June 24th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Travelers Companies from $237.00 to $230.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Travelers Companies from $214.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $261.00 to $252.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a market perform rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a report on Friday, April 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $221.12.

Travelers Companies Stock Performance

Shares of TRV stock opened at $203.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $46.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.11, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.62. Travelers Companies has a 1 year low of $157.33 and a 1 year high of $232.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $212.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.34.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The insurance provider reported $4.69 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.75 by ($0.06). Travelers Companies had a net margin of 7.32% and a return on equity of 13.94%. The business had revenue of $11.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.11 earnings per share. Travelers Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Travelers Companies will post 17.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Travelers Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th were given a $1.05 dividend. This is a boost from Travelers Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 10th. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. Travelers Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 31.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Travelers Companies

In other Travelers Companies news, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.96, for a total transaction of $2,139,600.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,877,860.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Daniel S. Frey sold 5,000 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.90, for a total value of $1,064,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,941,843.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $213.96, for a total value of $2,139,600.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,798 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,877,860.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,635 shares of company stock valued at $3,980,827 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.33% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Travelers Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 4,614 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $879,000 after acquiring an additional 1,037 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV acquired a new position in Travelers Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $1,973,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 124.9% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 13,775 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,660,000 after buying an additional 7,649 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 100.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 50,910 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,698,000 after acquiring an additional 25,575 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in Travelers Companies by 552.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 166,059 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,631,000 after buying an additional 140,622 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.