The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) to Issue $1.05 Quarterly Dividend

The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, July 19th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of 1.05 per share by the insurance provider on Monday, September 30th. This represents a $4.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th.

Travelers Companies has increased its dividend by an average of 5.3% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 20 consecutive years. Travelers Companies has a dividend payout ratio of 20.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Travelers Companies to earn $20.16 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.8%.

Travelers Companies Trading Up 1.1 %

TRV stock opened at $234.46 on Friday. Travelers Companies has a 52 week low of $157.33 and a 52 week high of $236.59. The company has a market capitalization of $53.44 billion, a PE ratio of 17.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $214.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $216.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33.

Travelers Companies (NYSE:TRV) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The insurance provider reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.23 by ($0.72). Travelers Companies had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 8.37%. The business had revenue of $11.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.06 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Travelers Companies will post 17.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TRV has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen downgraded Travelers Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $252.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Bank of America raised their price target on Travelers Companies from $202.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Travelers Companies from $221.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Travelers Companies in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Travelers Companies from $220.00 to $242.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Travelers Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $227.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael Frederick Klein sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.44, for a total transaction of $2,114,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,798 shares in the company, valued at $4,820,409.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.33% of the company’s stock.

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.