Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 279,033 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 2,430 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Travelers Companies worth $67,216,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in Travelers Companies by 12.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,048,691 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,289,079,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568,909 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 23,378.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 520,291 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $121,811,000 after purchasing an additional 518,075 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 66.9% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 705,793 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $166,645,000 after buying an additional 282,884 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Travelers Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $54,988,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Travelers Companies by 216.3% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 339,901 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $79,582,000 after buying an additional 232,428 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Travelers Companies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $275.00 to $286.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $213.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Travelers Companies from $275.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded Travelers Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $280.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Travelers Companies from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $278.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $261.05.

Travelers Companies Price Performance

Shares of TRV stock opened at $242.18 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $242.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $241.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $200.21 and a one year high of $269.55. The company has a market capitalization of $54.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.64.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $9.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.50 by $2.65. The company had revenue of $12.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.80 billion. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 19.06% and a net margin of 10.77%. Travelers Companies’s revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.01 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 18.78 EPS for the current year.

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Travelers Companies’s payout ratio is currently 19.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Vice Chairman William H. Heyman sold 3,740 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.80, for a total value of $990,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 250,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,301,683.20. The trade was a 1.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Travelers Companies

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.