The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 267,416 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 5,864 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Travelers Companies were worth $74,668,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Travelers Companies by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,277 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $789,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Travelers Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $276,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 36.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,091 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 23.6% in the 2nd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 5,536 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,481,000 after buying an additional 1,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Travelers Companies by 24.9% during the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 15,688 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,197,000 after acquiring an additional 3,132 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.45% of the company’s stock.

Travelers Companies Stock Up 0.9%

TRV opened at $288.24 on Wednesday. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $230.43 and a 52 week high of $296.85. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $284.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $277.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market cap of $64.29 billion, a PE ratio of 10.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.51.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last announced its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $12.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.13 billion. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 20.70% and a net margin of 12.88%.The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $9.15 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.02 EPS for the current year.

Travelers Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. Travelers Companies’s payout ratio is currently 15.98%.

Travelers Companies declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 21st that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the insurance provider to repurchase up to 8.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Travelers Companies from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Travelers Companies from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded Travelers Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Travelers Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $303.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jeffrey P. Klenk sold 16,712 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.77, for a total transaction of $4,675,516.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,699,602.75. This represents a 73.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Vice Chairman William H. Heyman sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $287.50, for a total transaction of $575,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 255,086 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,337,225. The trade was a 0.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 54,435 shares of company stock valued at $15,366,736. 1.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Travelers Companies Company 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.