Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $313.57 and last traded at $312.8560, with a volume of 179470 shares. The stock had previously closed at $307.81.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on TRV shares. Barclays lowered shares of Travelers Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $331.00 to $295.00 in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Seaport Research Partners set a $322.00 price objective on Travelers Companies in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Travelers Companies from $329.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Travelers Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $309.07.

Travelers Companies Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.35. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $301.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $295.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.22 billion, a PE ratio of 9.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.48.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $7.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.80 by $0.91. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 24.06% and a net margin of 15.54%.The business had revenue of $11.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 28 EPS for the current year.

Travelers Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This is a boost from Travelers Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Travelers Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 14.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Travelers Companies

In other news, Vice Chairman William H. Heyman sold 1,557 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.64, for a total transaction of $483,666.48. Following the transaction, the insider owned 259,590 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,639,037.60. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Diane Kurtzman sold 2,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.45, for a total transaction of $869,991.15. Following the completion of 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 37,573 shares of company stock worth $11,504,146. Corporate insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Travelers Companies

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TRV. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 145.7% during the 1st quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 86 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Travelers Companies in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Travelers Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 1,820.0% during the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 96 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Travelers Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.