Severe storms drove up catastrophe damage
The shares of Travelers Companies Inc (NYSE:TRV) are sliding today, after the insurance company’s first-quarter earnings miss. Severe storms in the U.S. drove up catastrophe losses, though investment income and strong underwriting help offset the damage. At last glance, TRV was down 7.3% at $206.88, earlier as low as $202.60 — coming close to erasing its January post-earnings bull gap.
This negative price action has the stock tearing below recent support at its 60-day moving average, which it hasn’t closed below since late October. Several long-term moving averages linger below as potential layers of support, however, including the 120-day trendline. Since the start of the year, the equity is up 7.7%.
In the options pits today, Travelers Companies stock has already seen 5.1 times its average daily options volume. The April 220 put is the most popular, with new positions opening at the April 200 put.