The Travelers Companies 2Q Results: Postgame Scorecard

The Travelers Companies (AMEX:TRV) swung back to a profit in the second quarter.

Earnings and Revenue The company's revenues topped Wall Street's expectations, though the company's EPS fell short of predictions. The company reported EPS of $1.26 a share versus the $1.38 a share estimate and revenues of $6.36 billion versus the $5.98 billion estimate. The estimates of 22 analysts ranged from profit of $1.12 to profit of $1.62.

The company's profit for the quarter was $499 million. Revenue fell 0.5% from $6.39 billion in the same period last year.

Company Fundamental Trends Slumping revenue in the last quarter ends The company's streak of two consecutive quarters of revenue increases.

History Against Expectations The company missed estimates last quarter after surpassing the mark the quarter before. It reported net income of $2.01 versus a mean estimate of net income of $1.52 per share.

Official Comment: "Our second quarter net income of $499 million benefited from meaningful improvement in our underlying underwriting margins as well as strong net investment income given the continuing low interest rate environment," commented Jay Fishman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "However, earnings were also impacted by weather-related losses which, while much lower than in the prior year quarter, were considerably higher than we would have expected based on historical experience. "We continue to be very pleased with pricing trends across our businesses. In Business Insurance, renewal rate change exceeded 7%, with stable retentions, demonstrating the success of our active pricing strategy and our continued focus on improving profitability."

Estimates provided by Zacks Investment Research and company fundamentals from Xignite Financials.