Bank of New York Mellon Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Loews Co. (NYSE:L)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Loews Co. (NYSE:L) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,287,833 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 77,386 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Loews were worth $109,067,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in L. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Loews by 345.4% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 296,538 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,114,000 after buying an additional 229,965 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in 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 valued at $37,745,000 after buying an additional 229,956 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in Loews by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 569,156 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $44,992,000 after buying an additional 105,810 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in Loews by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 752,380 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $59,473,000 after buying an additional 87,259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in Loews by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,077,241 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $638,506,000 after buying an additional 82,581 shares in the last quarter. 58.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Andrew H. Tisch sold 7,533 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.35, for a total value of $635,408.55. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,568,191 shares in the company, valued at $132,276,910.85. This trade represents a 0.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jonathan M. Tisch sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.08, for a total value 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,370 shares of company stock valued at $5,309,627 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 18.70% of the company’s stock.

Loews Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of L stock opened at $86.56 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.43 billion, a PE ratio of 13.53 and a beta of 0.83. Loews Co. has a fifty-two week low of $72.91 and a fifty-two week high of $88.29.

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

Loews Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.0625 per share. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. Loews’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.91%.

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.