Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) Given New $230.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) had its price objective increased by Morgan Stanley from $222.00 to $230.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $194.00 to $213.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Travelers Companies in a report on Wednesday, December 20th. They set a buy rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Travelers Companies in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued an outperform rating and a $247.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $205.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, HSBC lifted their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $218.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $218.39.

Travelers Companies Stock Performance

Shares of TRV stock opened at $210.46 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $48.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day moving average is $221.80 and its 200 day moving average is $196.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Travelers Companies has a 52-week low of $157.33 and a 52-week high of $232.75.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The insurance provider reported $4.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.75 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.62 billion. Travelers Companies had a net margin of 7.23% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.11 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Travelers Companies will post 17.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.05 per share. This is an increase from Travelers Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. Travelers Companies’s payout ratio is presently 31.27%.

Insider Activity at Travelers Companies

In related news, Vice Chairman William H. Heyman sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.06, for a total transaction of $967,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 255,178 shares in the company, valued at $54,878,580.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Daniel S. Frey sold 38,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.55, for a total transaction of $8,076,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,810 shares in the company, valued at $3,147,865.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman William H. Heyman sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.06, for a total transaction of $967,770.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 255,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,878,580.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 109,775 shares of company stock worth $23,343,903 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of TRV. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 56.4% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,766,079 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,288,871,000 after acquiring an additional 2,440,650 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Travelers Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $282,593,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 215.5% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 917,756 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $159,378,000 after acquiring an additional 626,837 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 15.8% in the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,575,759 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $747,267,000 after acquiring an additional 623,974 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,284,693 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $615,847,000 after acquiring an additional 539,294 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.45% of the company’s stock.

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.