TRV to Sell Major Canada Insurance Operations: Time to Buy the Stock?

The Travelers Companies, Inc. TRV has inked a deal to divest the personal insurance business and the majority of the commercial insurance business of Travelers Canada to Definity Financial Corporation for $2.4 billion. The divestiture is intended to create long-term value via prudent capital allocation. 

Subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, the transaction will see light in the first quarter of 2026.

The sale consideration represents a multiple of 1.8 times book value, excluding approximately $0.8 billion of excess local capital, which is being repatriated in a tax-efficient manner.

Rationale of the Transaction

To optimize its capital allocation and enhance long-term shareholder value, this insurer will deploy $0.7 billion of the net proceeds to buy back shares in 2026. The remaining $1.7 billion will support ongoing operations and general corporate purposes.

Travelers boasts being the largest surety writer in North America. It has decided to retain its premier Canadian surety business, which is in alignment with its core competencies. It is also streamlining its operations. 

This latest strategic move is expected to be slightly accretive to earnings per share over the next several years.

Definity Financial Corporation, on the other hand, will become the fourth-largest property and casualty insurer in Canada following the buyout. This acquisition will also be immediately accretive to its operating earnings per share. TRV’s Canada operation generates roughly $1 billion in premiums annually that will be added to Definity’s personal lines business.

TRV: A Must-Have Stock in Your Portfolio?

Travelers boasts a strong market presence in auto, homeowners’ insurance and commercial U.S. property-casualty insurance with solid inorganic growth. Travelers has grown net written premiums by more than 70% to over $43 billion in the past eight years, driven by strong retention rates, positive renewal premium changes and higher new business premiums in both Domestic Automobile and Domestic Homeowners.

TRV remains optimistic about the trajectory of its personal lines of business as insurers are tightening their underwriting standards. It expects to see moderated claim trends and is bundling auto and home to make coverages affordable. 

While Travelers expects renewal premium change to remain elevated as it continues to seek rate increases in response to higher loss costs, it also anticipates a gradual moderation over time.

In tandem with the industry's ongoing technological transformation, Travelers has been harnessing cutting-edge technologies — including artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, data analytics, and cloud computing — to enhance its underwriting claims, customer experience and risk management capabilities. As part of its commitment to innovation, Travelers plans to invest more than $1 billion annually in technology to support continued advancement and operational efficiency.

The solid cash generation has allowed it to return capital to shareholders via dividends and share buybacks. It increased dividends for the 21st consecutive year with a compound annual growth rate of 8% over that period. Its current dividend yield of 1.7% is better than the industry average of 0.3%.

Shares of TRV have gained 14.3% year to date, underperforming its industry’s increase of 16.5%.

TRV shares are trading at a premium to the industry. Its price-to-book of 2.21X is much higher than the industry average of 1.63X. It is, however, cheaper than The Progressive Corporation PGR and The Allstate Corporation ALL, two other P&C insurers.

Despite its premium valuation, investors can add this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock to their portfolios as it is set to gain from underwriting excellence, solid investment income and a strong balance sheet with a statutory capital and surplus of $27.8 billion at first-quarter 2025 end. 

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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