Loews Corporation $L Shares Bought by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Loews Corporation (NYSE:L) by 42.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 45,479 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,473 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Loews were worth $4,854,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in L. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in Loews during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Loews during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA acquired a new stake in shares of Loews in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in Loews by 896.7% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 299 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SHP Wealth Management purchased a new position in Loews in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Loews

In other news, Director Dino Robusto purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $104.74 per share, for a total transaction of $523,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 10,235 shares in the company, valued at $1,072,013.90. This represents a 95.51% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 19.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Loews Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of L opened at $115.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Loews Corporation has a 1-year low of $89.32 and a 1-year high of $119.10. The stock has a market cap of $23.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.69 and a beta of 0.52. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.58.

Loews (NYSE:L) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The insurance provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter. Loews had a return on equity of 8.51% and a net margin of 8.83%.

Loews Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a $0.0625 dividend. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Loews’s dividend payout ratio is 3.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings downgraded Loews from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Loews Profile

Loews Corporation (NYSE: L) is a diversified holding company that owns and operates businesses across insurance, hospitality, energy-related operations and other industrial and investment activities. The company holds controlling and significant minority interests in subsidiaries that run as standalone businesses, with corporate oversight focused on capital allocation, risk management and long-term value creation for shareholders.

One of Loews’ principal businesses is insurance, conducted through CNA Financial, a commercial property and casualty insurer that underwrites a range of business insurance products for corporate and institutional clients.