The Travelers Companies, Inc. $TRV Holdings Boosted by Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) by 192.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 135,330 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 89,108 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC owned 0.06% of Travelers Companies worth $37,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Alteri Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Travelers Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 2.4% during the third quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,139 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $8,136,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 30.0% during the third quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 12,331 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,443,000 after acquiring an additional 2,844 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ bought a new position in shares of Travelers Companies during the third quarter worth about $54,561,000. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,734 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $484,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. 82.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TRV has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Travelers Companies from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on Travelers Companies from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Evercore raised their target price on Travelers Companies from $309.00 to $317.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Travelers Companies from $307.00 to $285.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $304.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Travelers Companies news, CEO Alan D. Schnitzer sold 55,733 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.70, for a total value of $16,424,515.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 260,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,718,956.30. This represents a 17.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $301.18, for a total transaction of $3,011,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 33,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,131,092.84. The trade was a 22.92% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 101,765 shares of company stock worth $29,877,543 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.46% of the company’s stock.

Travelers Companies Trading Up 1.6%

Travelers Companies stock opened at $304.80 on Monday. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $230.43 and a 52 week high of $304.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $287.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $280.58.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The insurance provider reported $11.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.34 by $2.79. Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 20.70% and a net margin of 12.88%.The company had revenue of $12.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $9.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.02 EPS for the current year.

Travelers Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. Travelers Companies’s payout ratio is 15.98%.

Travelers Companies announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 21st that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the insurance provider to reacquire up to 8.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.