WJ Financial Advisors LLC Buys New Holdings in The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV

WJ Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,349 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $656,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 1,820.0% in the second quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 96 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Travelers Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Travelers Companies by 134.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 96 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Quaker Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Travelers Companies by 200.0% during the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 104 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clayton Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Travelers Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Travelers Companies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $304.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Travelers Companies from $315.00 to $312.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Evercore boosted their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Travelers Companies to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Travelers Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $303.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $301.18, for a total transaction of $3,011,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 33,638 shares in the company, valued at $10,131,092.84. This represents a 22.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Alan D. Schnitzer sold 55,733 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.70, for a total transaction of $16,424,515.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 260,329 shares in the company, valued at $76,718,956.30. This represents a 17.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 101,765 shares of company stock worth $29,877,543. Insiders own 1.46% of the company’s stock.

Travelers Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Travelers Companies stock opened at $293.75 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $285.93 and a 200-day moving average of $279.02. The company has a market cap of $65.52 billion, a PE ratio of 10.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.43 and a 1-year high of $304.40.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $11.13 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $12.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $9.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.98%.

Travelers Companies announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Travelers Companies Profile

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.