Norges Bank Makes New $577.28 Million Investment in Loews Corporation $L

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Loews Corporation (NYSE:L) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 5,481,709 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $577,279,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in Loews during the fourth quarter worth about $2,489,000. National Pension Service increased its stake in Loews by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 57,022 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,005,000 after acquiring an additional 10,062 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Loews by 1,171.0% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,508 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $369,000 after acquiring an additional 3,232 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Loews by 50.2% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 46,428 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,889,000 after acquiring an additional 15,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Loews by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,999,186 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $524,599,000 after acquiring an additional 271,234 shares during the last quarter. 58.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Loews Price Performance

L stock opened at $103.61 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.36. Loews Corporation has a 1 year low of $86.77 and a 1 year high of $114.90. The firm has a market cap of $21.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.99.

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. Loews had a return on equity of 8.51% and a net margin of 8.83%.The business had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter.

Loews Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be paid a $0.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Loews’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Andrew H. Tisch sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.81, for a total value of $5,440,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,480,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,357,992,324. This trade represents a 0.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 19.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (a-)” rating on shares of Loews in a research note on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Strong Buy”.

Loews Company 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.