Citizens JMP Reiterates Market Perform Rating on Travelers (TRV)

Citizens JMP analyst Meyer Shields reiterated a Market Perform rating on Travelers (NYSE: TRV).

The analyst commented, “We reaffirm our Market Perform rating on The Travelers Companies following better-than expected second-quarter results. Travelers reported operating EPS of $6.51, well above our estimate of $3.62 and consensus of $3.66. The beat versus our estimate was driven by a better-than-expected core combined ratio (91% vs. 99% est.), lower-than-projected catastrophe losses ($927 mln vs. $1,326 mln est.; primarily impacted by severe wind and hail storms in multiple states), and better-than-projected reserve development ($315 mln favorable vs. $54 mln favorable est.; driven in large part by the workers’ compensation line in Business Insurance). Book value was up 5% sequentially to $131, ahead of our estimate of $126 and consensus of $128. During the quarter, Travelers repurchased $557 mln of shares (vs. our $250 mln estimate). As of June 30, Travelers had $4.29 bln of capacity remaining under its share repurchase authorization. Travelers is a well-managed and disciplined underwriter, in our opinion, with one of the strongest franchises in the P&C insurance sector. However, we view the shares as fairly valued at the current 2.0x book value and 10x 2026E EPS, with expectations for a 17% ROE in 2026, and thus reaffirm our Market Perform rating.”

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Travelers click here. For more ratings news on Travelers click here.

Shares of Travelers closed at $265.97 yesterday.

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