Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires Shares of 11,000 The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 11,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,208,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of TRV. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Travelers Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $276,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in Travelers Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $382,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Travelers Companies by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 68,537 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $18,336,000 after purchasing an additional 8,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in Travelers Companies by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 105,605 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,254,000 after purchasing an additional 2,117 shares in the last quarter. 82.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TRV has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Seaport Research Partners set a $322.00 target price on Travelers Companies in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Travelers Companies from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $316.00 to $322.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Brean Capital started coverage on Travelers Companies in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Travelers Companies from $340.00 to $342.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Travelers Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $309.07.

Travelers Companies Stock Performance

Shares of TRV opened at $327.14 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $303.24 and a 200 day moving average of $296.17. The company has a market capitalization of $69.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.73, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.48. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $249.19 and a 12 month high of $327.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $7.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.80 by $0.91. The firm had revenue of $11.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.11 billion. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 24.06% and a net margin of 15.54%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 28 earnings per share for the current year.

Travelers Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. This is an increase from Travelers Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. Travelers Companies’s payout ratio is currently 14.88%.

Insider Activity at Travelers Companies

In other Travelers Companies news, insider Avrohom J. Kess sold 6,735 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.78, for a total transaction of $2,079,633.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 48,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,049,010.86. This represents a 12.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Diane Kurtzman sold 2,867 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.45, for a total value of $869,991.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,607,678.10. This represents a 35.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 37,573 shares of company stock worth $11,504,146 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

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.