Loews (NYSE:L) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Loews Co. (NYSE:L) shares 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. The stock had previously closed at $87.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Loews Trading Down 1.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market capitalization of $18.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.63 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $85.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.05.

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

Loews Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were issued a $0.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. Loews’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.91%.

Insider Activity at Loews

In other Loews news, Director Jonathan M. Tisch sold 47,636 shares of Loews stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.88, for a total transaction of $4,043,343.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,705,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $569,165,301.52. This trade represents a 0.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Andrew H. Tisch sold 7,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.35, for a total transaction of $635,408.55. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,568,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $132,276,910.85. The trade was a 0.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 158,860 shares of company stock worth $13,486,463. 18.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in L. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Loews during the 4th quarter valued at about $623,493,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Loews by 345.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 296,538 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,114,000 after purchasing an additional 229,965 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings 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 worth $37,745,000 after purchasing an additional 229,956 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Loews by 16.9% during the fourth 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 period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Loews by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,476,087 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $378,087,000 after acquiring an additional 210,594 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.33% of the company’s stock.

Loews Company Profile

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.