Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Decreases Position in The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,899 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 1,841 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Travelers Companies were worth $7,865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its stake in Travelers Companies by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 48,247 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $13,472,000 after buying an additional 8,600 shares in the last quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in Travelers Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $7,955,000. National Pension Service grew its stake in Travelers Companies by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 746,883 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $208,545,000 after buying an additional 13,120 shares in the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Travelers Companies by 32.3% in the 3rd quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 26,228 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,323,000 after buying an additional 6,408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its stake in Travelers Companies by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 34,871 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $9,737,000 after buying an additional 6,954 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on TRV shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Travelers Companies from $316.00 to $319.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a report on Monday, April 20th. Brean Capital initiated coverage on Travelers Companies in a report on Thursday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Travelers Companies from $312.00 to $331.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Travelers Companies from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Travelers Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $309.13.

Travelers Companies Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE TRV opened at $298.01 on Friday. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $249.19 and a 12 month high of $313.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.87, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a 50-day moving average of $300.48 and a 200-day moving average of $290.49.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $7.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $11.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.91 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 28.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Travelers Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. 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 (DPR) is presently 13.09%.

Travelers Companies announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 21st that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the insurance provider to buy up to 8.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Vice Chairman William H. Heyman sold 1,557 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.64, for a total value of $483,666.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 259,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,639,037.60. The trade was a 0.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Diane Kurtzman sold 2,867 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.45, for a total transaction of $869,991.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,607,678.10. This trade represents a 35.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 27,573 shares of company stock valued at $8,427,646 in the last three months. 1.39% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.