Travelers Q2 profit beats Wall St. estimates

The Travelers Companies (TRV)  posted a second quarter profit of $812 million, or $2.53 per share, up from a $683 million profit, or $1.95 per share, during that three month period in 2014.

Operating income rose to $806 million after taxes, or $2.52 a share. The company said the 19% profit boost, and 20% bump in operating income, was fueled by roughly $800 million in stock repurchases, a dip in catastrophe losses and the corporation resolving previous issues around taxes.

The results beat Wall Street analysts' expectations of $2.12 a share, according to Thomson Reuters.

"Our results were driven by strong underwriting performance across all of our business segments, as reflected in our consolidated combined ratio of 90.8%, as well as net investment income which was consistent with our expectations,'' Jay Fishman, Chairman and CEO of The Travelers Companies said in a statement. "We remain very pleased with both the stability of the markets in which we compete, as well as how we have executed on our strategies.''

Remarking on the recent wave of mergers in the insurance sector, including the announcement at the start of this month that property/casualty insurer ACE Ltd. would buy Chubb Corp for$28 billion, Fishman said that Travelers is open to future acquisitions, but only if company officials deem that's best for investors. .

"That evaluation comes down to determining the best way to create shareholder value,’’ Fishman said in an earnings call Tuesday morning. "We are confident in our ability to deliver superior returns, but we  do continue to look at m and a opportunities.''

In an investors note, analyst James Naklicki of Citi wrote that "the stock will likely outperform on the size of the beat, but the deterioration in the underlying combined ratio will be an issue, while commercial pricing continues to deteriorate.''

Shares were up .58% to $103.21 in morning trading.