Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Lowers Position in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. cut its holdings in The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 975,854 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 10,198 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned approximately 0.43% of Travelers Companies worth $185,890,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Travelers Companies by 15.8% during the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,575,759 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $747,267,000 after buying an additional 623,974 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 0.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,431,825 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $560,451,000 after acquiring an additional 29,989 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 4.3% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,285,751 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $373,286,000 after acquiring an additional 95,153 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 0.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,395,810 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $227,950,000 after acquiring an additional 5,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Travelers Companies by 7.2% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 989,962 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $162,157,000 after acquiring an additional 66,508 shares in the last quarter. 82.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Travelers Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TRV opened at $213.45 on Friday. The Travelers Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $157.33 and a 12 month high of $232.75. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $221.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $198.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.34.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The insurance provider reported $4.69 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.75 by ($0.06). Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 7.32%. The company had revenue of $11.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.11 earnings per share. Travelers Companies’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that The Travelers Companies, Inc. will post 17.74 EPS for the current year.

Travelers Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $1.05 per share. This is a positive change from Travelers Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Travelers Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on TRV shares. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Travelers Companies in a report on Friday, April 5th. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Travelers Companies in a report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Travelers Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $241.00 to $231.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Travelers Companies from $186.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $223.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Daniel S. Frey sold 38,000 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.55, for a total transaction of $8,076,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,147,865.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Travelers Companies news, CFO Daniel S. Frey sold 38,000 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.55, for a total value of $8,076,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,810 shares in the company, valued at $3,147,865.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Daniel S. Frey sold 5,000 shares of Travelers Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.90, for a total transaction of $1,064,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,515 shares in the company, valued at $3,941,843.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 80,734 shares of company stock worth $17,208,404 in the last ninety days. 1.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Travelers Companies

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.