Equity Investment Corp Takes Position in The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV

Equity Investment Corp purchased a new stake in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 331,603 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $109,469,000. Travelers Companies comprises 2.1% of Equity Investment Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in TRV. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension bought a new stake in Travelers Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $24,167,000. Rit Capital Partners PLC bought a new position in Travelers Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $39,450,000. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in Travelers Companies by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,774,756 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $514,786,000 after buying an additional 89,159 shares during the last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft acquired a new position in shares of Travelers Companies during the 1st quarter worth about $576,000. Finally, Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 41.5% during the 4th quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 66,016 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,149,000 after buying an additional 19,347 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.45% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Travelers Companies

In other Travelers Companies news, EVP Daniel Tei-Hwa Yin sold 7,153 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $387.00, for a total value of $2,768,211.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 68,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,638,758. The trade was a 9.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Mojgan M. Lefebvre sold 16,313 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.38, for a total transaction of $6,009,382.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 9,213 shares in the company, valued at $3,393,884.94. This trade represents a 63.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 62,667 shares of company stock valued at $22,688,329 in the last three months. 1.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Raymond James Financial set a $430.00 target price on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Zacks Research raised shares of Travelers Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a report on Monday, July 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $354.26.

Travelers Companies Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE:TRV opened at $367.96 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $348.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $316.68. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $252.26 and a 52-week high of $398.70. The company has a market cap of $76.74 billion, a PE ratio of 9.85, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 17th. The insurance provider reported $10.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $11.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.51 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 33.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. Travelers Companies’s payout ratio is currently 13.39%.

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.