Travelers Meets on Revenues, Misses on EPS

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Travelers (NYS: TRV) reported earnings on Jan. 24. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Travelers met expectations on revenues and missed slightly on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue grew and earnings per share dropped significantly.

Margins contracted across the board.

Revenue details
Travelers logged revenue of $5.6 billion. The 10 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected revenue of $5.6 billion. Sales were 0.3% lower than the prior-year quarter's $5.4 billion.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions.

EPS details
Non-GAAP EPS came in at $1.48. The 22 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $1.50 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS of $1.57 for Q4 were 19% lower than the prior-year quarter's $1.95 per share.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Figures may be non-GAAP to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 27.9%, 720 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 13.7%, 750 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 9.7%, 430 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $5.7 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $1.50.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $23 billion. The average EPS estimate is $5.73.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 400 members out of 436 rating the stock outperform, and 36 members rating it underperform. Among 137 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 129 give Travelers a green thumbs-up, and eight give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Travelers is outperform, with an average price target of $61.22.

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At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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