Veratis Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV

Veratis Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 4,042 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $891,000. Travelers Companies comprises approximately 0.6% of Veratis Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of TRV. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Travelers Companies by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,109,933 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,413,207,000 after purchasing an additional 110,311 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Travelers Companies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,915,909,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,000,457 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,641,093,000 after acquiring an additional 486,861 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Travelers Companies by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,793,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,100,416,000 after buying an additional 85,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,484,676 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,016,433,000 after acquiring an additional 123,564 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TRV has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Travelers Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $350.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Travelers Companies from $295.00 to $334.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial set a $430.00 price target on shares of Travelers Companies in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Travelers Companies from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (a)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Travelers Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Travelers Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $354.26.

Travelers Companies Stock Up 1.9%

TRV stock opened at $370.65 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.93, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.45. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $252.26 and a fifty-two week high of $398.70. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $353.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $318.93.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 17th. The insurance provider reported $10.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.41 by $4.63. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 25.41% and a net margin of 16.95%.The firm had revenue of $12.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.51 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 33.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Travelers Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.39%.

Insider Activity at Travelers Companies

In other news, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $366.09, for a total value of $2,196,540.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 45,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,519,811.25. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Daniel S. Frey sold 14,037 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.24, for a total value of $5,168,984.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 27,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,139,488.40. The trade was a 33.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 52,667 shares of company stock valued at $19,611,829. Corporate insiders own 1.39% 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.