LRT Capital Management LLC Buys New Shares in The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV

LRT Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 10,758 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,004,000. Travelers Companies accounts for about 2.0% of LRT Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 1.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,047,005 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,898,456,000 after buying an additional 313,449 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Travelers Companies by 1.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,746,231 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,162,917,000 after acquiring an additional 119,481 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Travelers Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $815,013,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,785,288 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $496,872,000 after acquiring an additional 331,170 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,670,016 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $466,302,000 after acquiring an additional 43,589 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TRV has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Travelers Companies from $302.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Travelers Companies to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Brean Capital began coverage on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Travelers Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Travelers Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $304.33.

Insider Activity at Travelers Companies

In other Travelers Companies news, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.18, for a total transaction of $3,011,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 33,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,131,092.84. This represents a 22.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey P. Klenk sold 16,712 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.77, for a total value of $4,675,516.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,075 shares in the company, valued at $1,699,602.75. The trade was a 73.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 92,845 shares of company stock worth $27,239,631. Company insiders own 1.46% of the company’s stock.

Travelers Companies Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE TRV opened at $304.53 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $292.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $284.67. The company has a market cap of $65.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.43 and a 12-month high of $313.12.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $11.13 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $12.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $9.15 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Travelers Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.98%.

Travelers Companies announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 21st that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to repurchase up to 8.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.