Equity Investment Corp Purchases 16,497 Shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV)

Equity Investment Corp raised its position in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 403,151 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,497 shares during the period. Travelers Companies makes up about 2.1% of Equity Investment Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Equity Investment Corp owned about 0.18% of Travelers Companies worth $81,977,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 36.8% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,743,236 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,702,588,000 after purchasing an additional 3,158,979 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Travelers Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $282,593,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 356.4% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 868,563 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $176,589,000 after buying an additional 678,241 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in shares of Travelers Companies during the first quarter worth $88,190,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 6,167.2% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 333,854 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $63,596,000 after acquiring an additional 328,527 shares during the period. 82.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on TRV. Barclays initiated coverage on Travelers Companies in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $286.00 target price for the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on Travelers Companies from $202.00 to $223.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. TD Cowen lowered shares of Travelers Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $252.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $220.00 to $242.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $227.05.

Insider Transactions at Travelers Companies

In related news, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $211.44, for a total value of $2,114,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,798 shares in the company, valued at $4,820,409.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.33% of the company’s stock.

Travelers Companies Stock Performance

NYSE TRV opened at $234.11 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $53.36 billion, a PE ratio of 17.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $217.40 and a 200-day moving average of $216.76. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $157.33 and a 52-week high of $242.89.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 19th. The insurance provider reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.23 by ($0.72). The company had revenue of $11.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.35 billion. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 8.37%. The company’s revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.06 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.19 EPS for the current year.

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. Travelers Companies’s payout ratio is 31.20%.

Travelers Companies Profile

The Travelers Companies, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides a range of commercial and personal property, and casualty insurance products and services to businesses, government units, associations, and individuals in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Business Insurance, Bond & Specialty Insurance, and Personal Insurance.