Cullen Capital Management LLC Sells 12,633 Shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV

Cullen Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 508,253 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 12,633 shares during the period. Cullen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Travelers Companies were worth $141,915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in TRV. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 98.9% during the third quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 136,484 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $36,803,000 after acquiring an additional 67,881 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Travelers Companies by 128.3% in the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 751 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. Optimize Financial Inc increased its holdings in Travelers Companies by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. Optimize Financial Inc now owns 1,640 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Unison Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Travelers Companies by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 15,505 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,329,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Travelers Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $7,955,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.45% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jeffrey P. Klenk sold 16,712 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,699,602.75. The trade was a 73.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Vice Chairman William H. Heyman sold 1,803 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.55, for a total value of $522,058.65. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 255,086 shares in the company, valued at $73,860,151.30. The trade was a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 29,435 shares of company stock valued at $8,410,486 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on TRV shares. Argus raised Travelers Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Travelers Companies from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $316.00 to $319.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $307.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $317.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $303.00.

Travelers Companies Price Performance

Shares of TRV opened at $294.95 on Thursday. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $284.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $277.40. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $230.43 and a 1-year high of $296.85. The company has a market cap of $65.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.71, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.51.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.34 by $2.79. The company had revenue of $12.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.13 billion. Travelers Companies had a net margin of 12.88% and a return on equity of 20.70%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $9.15 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the insurance provider to reacquire up to 8.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Travelers Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Travelers Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.98%.

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.