The Travelers Companies reported third quarter earnings which fell short of analysts’ expectations.
The insurance company’s third-quarter 2019 core earnings of $1.43 per share came in way lower than Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.38.
Travelers’ total revenues increased + 4% from the year-ago quarter to $8 billion.
Net written premiums rose +7% year over year to a record $7.6 billion. This happened primarily due to increase in each of the business segments. Business and International Insurance net written premiums increased +7% year-over-year for the quarter, Bond & Specialty Insurance’s net written premiums grew +13%, and Personal Insurance had a +7% rise in net written premiums.
However, Travelers incurred underwriting loss of -$149 million, compared to underwriting income of $198 million in the year-ago period.
As for the different segment’s income in the quarter, Business Insurance’s was down - 60.2% year over year, Bond & Specialty Insurance’s fell -29.1%, and that of Personal Insurance dropped -14.4%.
Travelers repurchased 2.6 million shares worth $375 million in the quarter. The company now has $2.161 billion worth of shares remaining under its existing buyback authorization.
Also, the company’s board approved a quarterly dividend of 82 cents per share, which will be paid out on Dec 31, 2019 to shareholders of record at the close of business as of Dec 10, 2019