Loews (NYSE:L) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Loews Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market capitalization of $18.57 billion, a P/E 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The insurance provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter. Loews had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 8.04%.

Loews Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.0625 per share. 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 presently 3.91%.

Insider Transactions at Loews

In related news, Director Jonathan M. Tisch sold 3,691 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.89, for a total transaction of $320,710.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jonathan M. Tisch sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 7,105,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $604,538,407.32. This represents a 0.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 158,860 shares of company stock worth $13,486,463 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 18.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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