The Travelers Companies, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $1.05 (NYSE:TRV)

The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 23rd,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of 1.05 per share by the insurance provider on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th.

Travelers Companies has increased its dividend by an average of 5.9% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 20 consecutive years. Travelers Companies has a payout ratio of 18.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Travelers Companies to earn $22.15 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 19.0%.

Travelers Companies Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of TRV opened at $241.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $54.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.26, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.65. Travelers Companies has a 12 month low of $200.21 and a 12 month high of $269.55. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $248.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $236.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The insurance provider reported $9.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.50 by $2.65. The firm had revenue of $12.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10,795,375 billion. Travelers Companies had a net margin of 10.77% and a return on equity of 19.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.01 EPS. Analysts predict that Travelers Companies will post 20.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Travelers Companies news, Vice Chairman William H. Heyman sold 3,740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.80, for a total transaction of $990,352.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 250,384 shares in the company, valued at $66,301,683.20. This represents a 1.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Maria Olivo sold 10,410 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.80, for a total value of $2,725,338.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 111,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,102,211.60. The trade was a 8.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 18,670 shares of company stock valued at $4,861,329. Company insiders own 1.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TRV has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Roth Mkm lifted their price objective on Travelers Companies from $240.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Travelers Companies from $244.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. HSBC raised Travelers Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Travelers Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $233.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $258.21.

About Travelers Companies

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.