Equity Investment Corp Has $103.51 Million Holdings in The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV

Equity Investment Corp trimmed its position in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) by 2.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 370,723 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 11,246 shares during the period. Travelers Companies accounts for approximately 2.2% of Equity Investment Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Equity Investment Corp owned approximately 0.17% of Travelers Companies worth $103,513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TRV. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Travelers Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $815,013,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Travelers Companies by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,626,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,040,475,000 after purchasing an additional 751,715 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new position in Travelers Companies during the third quarter worth about $125,597,000. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Travelers Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $112,051,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Travelers Companies by 1,641.3% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 379,480 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $105,537,000 after buying an additional 357,687 shares during the period. 82.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Travelers Companies from $302.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Travelers Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $304.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $309.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $303.00.

Travelers Companies Price Performance

Shares of Travelers Companies stock opened at $288.24 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.51. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.43 and a twelve month high of $296.85. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $284.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $277.27.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $11.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.34 by $2.79. Travelers Companies had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.70%. The company had revenue of $12.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.13 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $9.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.02 EPS for the current year.

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Travelers Companies’s payout ratio is currently 15.98%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Maria Olivo sold 8,920 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.73, for a total value of $2,637,911.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 117,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,776,665.08. The trade was a 7.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey P. Klenk sold 16,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.77, for a total transaction of $4,675,516.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,699,602.75. This represents a 73.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 54,435 shares of company stock valued at $15,366,736 over the last 90 days. 1.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.