KBC Group NV Grows Stake in Loews Co. (NYSE:L)

KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Loews Co. (NYSE:L) by 1.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 62,785 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 999 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Loews were worth $4,963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Loews by 244.0% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 375 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in Loews during the second quarter worth about $45,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in Loews during the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Loews in the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Loews in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,000. 58.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Loews

In other Loews news, insider Jonathan M. Tisch sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total transaction of $2,045,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 461,395 shares in the company, valued at $37,751,338.90. This represents a 5.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Andrew H. Tisch sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.26, for a total value of $4,163,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,939,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $994,097,507.02. This represents a 0.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 213,587 shares of company stock worth $17,586,460 over the last quarter. 18.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Loews Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE L opened at $83.67 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.11 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.13. Loews Co. has a 1 year low of $66.60 and a 1 year high of $84.56.

Loews Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. Loews’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on L shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Loews from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com raised Loews from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Loews to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th.

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.