Empirical Finance LLC Grows Position in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV)

Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,067 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 163 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Travelers Companies were worth $1,889,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vectors Research Management LLC raised its stake in Travelers Companies by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vectors Research Management LLC now owns 4,075 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $959,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 7.9% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 33,337 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,805,000 after purchasing an additional 2,455 shares in the last quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Travelers Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $535,000. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,966 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,397,000 after buying an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Curi RMB Capital LLC bought a new position in Travelers Companies in the 3rd quarter worth $460,000. 82.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Travelers Companies Price Performance

Shares of TRV stock opened at $260.82 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $244.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $224.32. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.18 and a 52-week high of $269.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.62.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The insurance provider reported $5.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $1.45. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 17.69% and a net margin of 10.02%. The business had revenue of $11.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 18.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. Travelers Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on TRV. Bank of America lifted their target price on Travelers Companies from $241.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $286.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Travelers Companies from $244.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup increased their price target on Travelers Companies from $200.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Travelers Companies from $216.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $247.90.

Insider Activity

In other news, Vice Chairman William H. Heyman sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.55, for a total transaction of $781,650.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 250,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,237,551.20. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Diane Kurtzman sold 3,941 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.45, for a total transaction of $1,026,433.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $446,671.75. This trade represents a 69.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 63,999 shares of company stock valued at $16,580,166. Corporate insiders own 1.33% of the company’s stock.

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.