Loews Co. (NYSE:L – Get Rating) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,770,000 shares, a decline of 11.9% from the August 31st total of 2,010,000 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 853,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.
Insider Activity at Loews
In other news, major shareholder Corp Loews bought 47,899 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $40.08 per share, for a total transaction of $1,919,791.92. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 243,526,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,760,546,087.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders bought a total of 274,630 shares of company stock worth $10,802,190 in the last three months. Company insiders own 17.50% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Trading of Loews
Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Loews by 9.2% during the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 7,145 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Loews by 16.5% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 467,578 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $26,003,000 after purchasing an additional 66,158 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of Loews by 2.1% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 21,988 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,303,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Loews by 2.3% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,034,208 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $120,547,000 after acquiring an additional 45,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Loews in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.61% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on L shares. TheStreet lowered shares of Loews from a “b” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Monday, August 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Loews from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 3rd.
Loews Trading Up 3.4 %
L stock traded up $1.68 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $51.52. 990,311 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 883,580. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.91. Loews has a 12-month low of $49.36 and a 12-month high of $68.20.
Loews Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 17th were paid a dividend of $0.0625 per share. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 16th. Loews’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.80%.
About Loews
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 property, marine and boiler, and machinery coverages; and casualty insurance products, such as workers’ compensation, general and product liability, and commercial auto and umbrella coverages.