UBS Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) Stock

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) had its price objective hoisted by UBS Group from $275.00 to $284.00 in a report issued on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on TRV. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $260.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays cut shares of Travelers Companies from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $280.00 to $274.00 in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Travelers Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $264.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $275.56.

Travelers Companies Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE:TRV opened at $264.64 on Monday. Travelers Companies has a fifty-two week low of $205.94 and a fifty-two week high of $277.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $265.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $256.73.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The insurance provider reported $6.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.52 by $2.99. The company had revenue of $11.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.02 billion. Travelers Companies had a net margin of 10.97% and a return on equity of 18.68%. Travelers Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.51 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Travelers Companies 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 will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Travelers Companies’s payout ratio is 19.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Travelers Companies news, CFO Daniel S. Frey sold 20,286 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $273.48, for a total value of $5,547,815.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 26,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,365,363.36. This represents a 42.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Avrohom J. Kess sold 23,434 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $273.93, for a total transaction of $6,419,275.62. Following the sale, the insider owned 48,387 shares in the company, valued at $13,254,650.91. This trade represents a 32.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 175,374 shares of company stock valued at $47,929,912 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.46% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Travelers Companies

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 71,265.9% in the second 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 period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Travelers Companies by 236.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,507,219 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $844,854,000 after acquiring an additional 2,466,098 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Travelers Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $560,918,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 31,132.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,203,481 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $582,733,000 after buying an additional 2,196,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Travelers Companies in the first quarter valued at $294,755,000. 82.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Travelers Companies Company Profile

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.