The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV Shares Bought by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. raised its position in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 49,798 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,255 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Travelers Companies were worth $14,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TRV. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Travelers Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $125,597,000. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Travelers Companies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $112,051,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Travelers Companies by 1,641.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 379,480 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $105,537,000 after acquiring an additional 357,687 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in Travelers Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $99,680,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,785,288 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $496,872,000 after acquiring an additional 331,170 shares during the last quarter. 82.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Travelers Companies

In other news, insider Avrohom J. Kess sold 6,735 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.78, for a total value of $2,079,633.30. Following the sale, the insider owned 48,737 shares in the company, valued at $15,049,010.86. This trade represents a 12.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Diane Kurtzman sold 2,867 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,607,678.10. This represents a 35.11% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 27,573 shares of company stock valued at $8,427,646 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on TRV. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $312.00 to $331.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Argus raised Travelers Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Travelers Companies from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Travelers Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $309.13.

Travelers Companies Stock Performance

NYSE TRV opened at $298.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.87, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $300.48 and a 200 day moving average of $290.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $249.19 and a twelve month high of $313.12.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $7.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.80 by $0.91. The company had revenue of $11.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.11 billion. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 24.06% and a net margin of 15.54%.Travelers Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.91 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 28.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 21st that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to repurchase up to 8.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Travelers Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 10th. This is a boost from Travelers Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. Travelers Companies’s payout ratio is presently 13.09%.

About Travelers Companies

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.