3,486 Shares in The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV Bought by Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS bought a new position in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 3,486 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,011,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in TRV. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Travelers Companies during the third quarter worth $125,597,000. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Travelers Companies during the third quarter worth $112,051,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in 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 worth $105,537,000 after buying an additional 357,687 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in Travelers Companies during the third quarter worth $99,680,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Travelers Companies by 22.8% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,785,288 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $496,872,000 after buying an additional 331,170 shares during the last quarter. 82.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on TRV. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Travelers Companies to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Travelers Companies from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Argus upgraded shares of Travelers Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Travelers Companies from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $309.13.

Travelers Companies Trading Up 0.1%

TRV stock opened at $304.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $300.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $289.72. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $249.19 and a 52 week high of $313.12. The company has a market capitalization of $64.86 billion, a PE ratio of 9.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.50.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $7.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.80 by $0.91. Travelers Companies had a net margin of 15.54% and a return on equity of 24.06%. The business had revenue of $11.92 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.91 earnings per share. Travelers Companies’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 28.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Travelers Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. This is a boost from Travelers Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 10th. Travelers Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.09%.

Travelers Companies announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 21st that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to purchase up to 8.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Travelers Companies news, EVP Maria Olivo sold 10,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.75, for a total transaction of $3,127,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 117,596 shares in the company, valued at $35,366,997. This represents a 8.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Avrohom J. Kess sold 6,735 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 48,737 shares in the company, valued at $15,049,010.86. The trade was a 12.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 103,706 shares of company stock valued at $30,991,761 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.39% of the company’s stock.

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.