Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) Upgraded to Hold at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Travelers Companies in a research report on Monday, December 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $317.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $302.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Travelers Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $298.38.

Travelers Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TRV opened at $284.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $286.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $274.85. Travelers Companies has a 12 month low of $230.23 and a 12 month high of $296.85.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The insurance provider reported $8.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.01 by $2.13. The firm had revenue of $12.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.15 billion. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 20.28% and a net margin of 12.14%.Travelers Companies’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.24 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Travelers Companies will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 10th were given a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 10th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Travelers Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Travelers Companies news, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 8,572 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.73, for a total value of $2,320,697.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 33,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,106,815.74. The trade was a 20.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Maria Olivo sold 8,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 117,596 shares in the company, valued at $34,776,665.08. This trade represents a 7.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 46,295 shares of company stock valued at $13,011,918. Insiders own 1.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 worth $967,646,000 after acquiring an additional 3,611,758 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Travelers Companies during the second quarter worth approximately $815,013,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Travelers Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $125,597,000. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Travelers Companies in the 3rd quarter worth $112,051,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.45% of the company’s stock.

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.