Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations Grows Stock Position in The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations grew its holdings in shares of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) by 239.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,102 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,011 shares during the period. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations’ holdings in Travelers Companies were worth $2,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 1,820.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 96 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 134.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 96 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Travelers Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Travelers Companies by 65.3% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 119 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, eCIO Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Travelers Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 82.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Travelers Companies

In related news, insider Avrohom J. Kess sold 6,735 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 48,737 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,049,010.86. This represents a 12.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Diane Kurtzman sold 2,867 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.45, for a total value of $869,991.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,298 shares in the company, valued at $1,607,678.10. This represents a 35.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 103,706 shares of company stock worth $30,991,761. 1.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Travelers Companies Stock Performance

TRV stock opened at $304.99 on Friday. 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 cap of $64.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.50. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $249.19 and a 12-month high of $313.12. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $300.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $289.49.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The insurance provider reported $7.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.80 by $0.91. The business had revenue of $11.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.11 billion. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 24.06% and a net margin of 15.54%.The business’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.91 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 28.04 EPS for the current year.

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

Travelers Companies Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on TRV. Argus upgraded Travelers Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Travelers Companies from $315.00 to $304.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Brean Capital began coverage on Travelers Companies in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Travelers Companies to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $309.13.

Travelers Companies Profile

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.