Property and casualty insurance provider Travelers is Wednesday's pick for IBD 50 Growth Stocks To Watch. Travelers stock is holding up relatively well and has formed a bullish pattern within a flat base.
Investors are rotating out of growth stocks, such as artificial intelligence and tech names, and into more defensive plays like insurance. Property and casualty providers can show more stable earnings but have their own risks, including natural disasters. On Feb. 11, Travelers announced it expects preliminary $1.7 billion in catastrophic losses from the January California wildfires.
Travelers offers property and casualty coverage for individuals and businesses including home, vehicle, travel, flood and events. It has more than 15,000 independent agents and brokers in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Ireland.
The IBD 50 stock is in the Insurance-Property/Casualty/Title group, which now sits at No. 21 out of the 197 industry groups Investor's Business Daily tracks. The group's ranking stood at 67 four weeks ago.
How To Know It's Time To Sell Your Favorite Stock
Travelers Stock Sets Up For Next Move
Travelers stock is in a three-weeks-tight pattern with a 263.08 buy point. This bullish formation is best used to add to an existing position, but can also be used for an early entry. The pattern formed within an early stage flat base with an official 269.56 entry, according to MarketSurge pattern recognition, with 269.05 as an earlier entry.
Shares are above their 21-day exponential and 50-day moving averages. Further, both lines are trending upward, which is a positive sign for the stock.
Its relative strength line has reached a 52-week high as shown by the blue dot on its chart. The insurance stock is within about 3% of its all-time high reached on Oct. 18.
With the stock market in a downtrend, be sure the read the IBD Big Picture column daily to get market insights and recommended exposure levels.
Insurance Provider Looks For Profit Bounce in 2026
Travelers topped fourth-quarter earnings and sales estimates on Jan. 22. Profit grew 31% to $9.15 a share from $7.01 a share a year ago. Sales has been fairly consistent and climbed an average 12% over the last eight quarters.
"Full year results were driven by strong earned premiums, excellent underwriting margins and a higher level of net investment income," Travelers Chief Executive Alan Schnitzer said in the quarterly earnings release.
Recently updated full-year 2025 profit estimates call for an 18% drop in earnings before rising 35% in 2026. Revenue growth is expected to slow to an average 7% over the next four quarters. The insurance provider plans to report first-quarter results on April 16.
Its IBD Accumulation/Distribution Rating of B indicates moderate institutional buying over the last 13 weeks. IBD Mutual Fund Index component Fidelity Contrafund owned 1.37 million shares of the insurance stock as of Dec. 31.
Finally, Travelers stock holds a 95 Composite Rating out of a best-possible 99.
Follow Kimberley Koenig for more stock market news on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @IBD_KKoenig.
