Loews (NYSE:L) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Loews Co. (NYSE:L)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $88.62 and last traded at $88.34, with a volume of 149672 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $87.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Loews from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th.

Loews Trading Up 0.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.77 billion, a PE ratio of 13.77 and a beta of 0.80. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $85.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.98.

Loews (NYSE:L) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The insurance provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Loews had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 8.04%.

Loews Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a $0.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.28%. Loews’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.91%.

Insider Activity at Loews

In related news, Director Jonathan M. Tisch sold 3,691 shares of Loews stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.89, for a total value of $320,710.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jonathan M. Tisch sold 50,000 shares of Loews stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.08, for a total transaction of $4,254,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,105,529 shares in the company, valued at approximately $604,538,407.32. This trade represents a 0.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 158,860 shares of company stock worth $13,486,463 in the last three months. Insiders own 18.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Loews

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of L. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Loews in the fourth quarter valued at $623,493,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Loews by 345.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 296,538 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,114,000 after buying an additional 229,965 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in shares of Loews by 92.9% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 477,484 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,745,000 after buying an additional 229,956 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Loews by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,499,417 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $126,983,000 after buying an additional 217,115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Loews by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,476,087 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $378,087,000 after buying an additional 210,594 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.33% of the company’s stock.

About Loews

Loews Corporation provides commercial property and casualty insurance in the United States and internationally. The company offers specialty insurance products, such as management and professional liability, and other coverage products; surety and fidelity bonds; property insurance products that include standard and excess property, marine and boiler, and machinery coverages; and casualty insurance products, such as workers' compensation, general and product liability, and commercial auto, surplus, and umbrella coverages.