Loews Co. (NYSE:L) Shares Purchased by Ballentine Partners LLC

Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Loews Co. (NYSE:L) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,186 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Loews were worth $355,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Loews during the 4th quarter valued at about $315,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Loews by 0.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,611,751 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $127,409,000 after purchasing an additional 8,615 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Loews by 8.0% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 137,566 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,875,000 after purchasing an additional 10,213 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Loews by 47.8% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 37,319 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,950,000 after purchasing an additional 12,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its stake in Loews by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 379,647 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,011,000 after buying an additional 30,600 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Loews from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th.

Loews Stock Up 1.1 %

L stock opened at $84.83 on Friday. 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 50 day simple moving average of $84.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.12. The company has a market capitalization of $18.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.27 and a beta of 0.83. Loews Co. has a twelve month low of $71.45 and a twelve month high of $87.45.

Loews (NYSE:L) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The insurance provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter. Loews had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 9.70%. The company had revenue of $4.47 billion during the quarter.

Loews Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were given a $0.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Loews’s payout ratio is 3.32%.

Insider Transactions at Loews

In other news, Director Charles M. Diker sold 1,146 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.83, for a total transaction of $99,507.18. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,728,437.98. This represents a 5.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Andrew H. Tisch sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.16, for a total value of $6,237,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,089,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,005,377,539.32. The trade was a 0.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 133,679 shares of company stock worth $11,134,916. 18.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.