Is The Travelers Companies, Inc. (TRV) the Best Dow Stock?

We recently published a list of The Best and Worst Dow Stocks. In this article, we are going to take a look at where The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) stands against other Dow stocks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a benchmark index of the top 30 companies in the US. It represents the strength of the US economy and carries great historical significance as well.

It also acts as a reference point for analysts and investors. However, not all stocks within this elite group of companies perform equally. While some thrive on innovation and economic boom, others struggle due to various setbacks and economic trends.

We decided to break down the index and find out the best and worst stocks, looking at what was making them perform unexpectedly this year.

Methodology

In order to come up with our ranking of the best and worst Dow stocks, we first assigned a rank to each stock based on the number of hedge funds holding the stock. We then looked at the short interest in each stock and assigned the top rank to the company with the least short interest.

We then combined the two ranks to see which stock was the best on average. The list is in ascending order, with the best stock taking the number one spot.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

A woman signing a policy document while a representative from the insurance company looks on.

The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 52

Short Interest as of Apr 30, 2025: 1.42%

The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) is a personal and commercial property and casualty insurance services and products provider to associations, businesses, individuals, and government units. The company recently received back-to-back upgrades from analysts, making it a great start to the year.

The insurance company first earned an upgrade from Piper Sandler right after the solid Q4 earnings. Analysts noted that the stock was inexpensive and upgraded it from Neutral to Overweight with a raised price target of $310. Analysts Paul Newsome and Cam Bianchi favorably viewed its faster-than-expected recovery of personal lines profitability and sustainable margins in commercial lines.

Following the same optimistic sentiment, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods also upgraded the insurer from Market Perform to Outperform. The firm pointed out a potential $1.39 billion overestimation of its 2024 loss reserves. Additionally, KBW increased its 2025 reserve release estimates from $315 million to $392 million, which raises its EPS estimates as well.

Based on a more positive outlook of its reserves, Wells Fargo recently upgraded the stock from Underweight to Equal Weight. Wells Fargo’s concerns regarding catastrophe losses were mitigated by the company’s outlook and reinsurance coverage.

Analyst Elyse Greenspan stated:

“We had a more favorable view when looking at both its GAAP and stat reserves resulting in our upgrade of the shares.”

Overall, TRV ranks 26th on our list of best and worst Dow stocks. While we acknowledge the potential of TRV as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than TRV but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.