The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) Raises Dividend to $1.25 Per Share

The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of 1.25 per share by the insurance provider on Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 10th. This is a 13.6% increase from Travelers Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10.

Travelers Companies has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Travelers Companies has a dividend payout ratio of 17.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Travelers Companies to earn $23.09 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 19.1%.

Travelers Companies Stock Down 0.3%

Travelers Companies stock traded down $0.80 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $298.53. The stock had a trading volume of 1,555,786 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,587,457. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. Travelers Companies has a fifty-two week low of $247.81 and a fifty-two week high of $313.12. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $299.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $287.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.48 billion, a PE ratio of 10.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.51.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $7.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.80 by $0.91. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 20.70% and a net margin of 12.88%.The firm had revenue of $11.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Travelers Companies will post 17.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Travelers Companies

In other Travelers Companies news, CEO Alan D. Schnitzer sold 55,733 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.70, for a total transaction of $16,424,515.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 260,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,718,956.30. This trade represents a 17.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.18, for a total value of $3,011,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 92,845 shares of company stock worth $27,239,631 over the last 90 days. 1.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Travelers Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TRV. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Travelers Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $723,339,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Travelers Companies by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,000,457 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,641,093,000 after acquiring an additional 486,861 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 102.0% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 908,559 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $263,537,000 after buying an additional 458,746 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Travelers Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $112,051,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 1,641.3% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 379,480 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $105,537,000 after acquiring an additional 357,687 shares in the last quarter. 82.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.