Loews (NYSE:L) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Loews (NYSE:L) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday.

Loews Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE L opened at $84.16 on Tuesday. Loews has a 12 month low of $72.91 and a 12 month high of $88.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50-day moving average of $84.60 and a 200-day moving average of $81.93.

Loews (NYSE:L) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The insurance provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter. Loews had a return on equity of 9.70% and a net margin of 9.71%.

Loews Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a $0.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. Loews’s payout ratio is currently 3.91%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Andrew H. Tisch sold 7,533 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 1,568,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $132,276,910.85. This represents a 0.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jonathan M. Tisch sold 3,691 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.89, for a total value of $320,710.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,370 shares of company stock valued at $1,055,627. Company insiders own 18.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Loews

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of L. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Loews by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,077,241 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $638,506,000 after purchasing an additional 82,581 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Loews during the fourth quarter valued at $623,493,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Loews by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,476,087 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $378,087,000 after purchasing an additional 210,594 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Loews by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,462,387 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $377,920,000 after purchasing an additional 33,428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Loews by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,191,888 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $268,640,000 after purchasing an additional 8,750 shares in the last quarter. 58.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.