Zacks upgraded shares of The Travelers Companies (NYSE: TRV) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Monday. Zacks currently has $96.00 target price on the stock.
Zacks’ analyst wrote, “We are upgrading Travelers based on its prudent underwriting practices and favorable prior-year reserve development that managed to arrest the higher catastrophe losses arising due to Hurricane Sandy. Travelers’ fourth-quarter bottom line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate but lagged the year-ago numbers. Top line fared well on the back of higher premiums earned and net investment income. High retention rate, pricing gains, positive renewal rate changes, a strong capital position are among the other positives, which are likely to support Travelers perform better going forward. Its share buyback strategy has a positive impact on earnings per share. Further, it made some useful investments to augment its technology platform. It scores strongly with the rating agencies as well. “
Zacks has also modified their ratings on a number of other financial stocks in the few days. The firm upgraded shares of The Navigators Group, from a neutral rating to an outperform rating. The firm now has a $61.00 price target on that stock. Also, Zacks reiterated its neutral rating on shares of Amerisafe . They have a $31.00 price target on that stock.
TRV has been the subject of a number of other recent research reports. Analysts at Deutsche Bank reiterated a hold rating on shares of The Travelers Companies in a research note to investors on Wednesday, February 6th. Separately, analysts at UBS AG raised their EPS on shares of The Travelers Companies in a research note to investors on Tuesday, January 29th. They now have a buy rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. They previously had a $80.00 price target on the stock. Finally, analysts at Macquarie reiterated an outperform rating on shares of The Travelers Companies in a research note to investors on Tuesday, January 29th. They now have a $86.00 price target on the stock.
Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the stock. The company presently has an average rating of overweight and an average target price of $83.06.
Shares of The Travelers Companies opened at 80.60 on Monday. The Travelers Companies has a one year low of $55.86 and a one year high of $81.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $77.12. The company has a market cap of $30.418 billion and a P/E ratio of 12.79.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which is scheduled for Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 6th.
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