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.”

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Shares of Travelers closed at $265.97 yesterday.