V Square Quantitative Management LLC Buys New Stake in The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV

V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 5,278 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,531,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 134.1% in the third quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 96 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Travelers Companies in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Clayton Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Travelers Companies in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in Travelers Companies by 65.3% during the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 119 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. 82.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Travelers Companies Stock Up 2.2%

NYSE:TRV opened at $301.40 on Thursday. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $230.47 and a twelve month high of $313.12. The company has a market cap of $65.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $298.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $286.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $11.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.34 by $2.79. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 20.70% and a net margin of 12.88%.The business had revenue of $12.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.13 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $9.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.02 EPS for the current year.

Travelers Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. Travelers Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.98%.

Travelers Companies announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on TRV shares. Evercore lifted their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $309.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $312.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $315.00 to $304.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Travelers Companies to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $308.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of Travelers Companies 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 33,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,131,092.84. This trade represents a 22.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jeffrey P. Klenk sold 16,712 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.77, for a total value of $4,675,516.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,699,602.75. This trade represents a 73.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 92,845 shares of company stock valued at $27,239,631 in the last three months. 1.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.