Arizona State Retirement System Acquires 278 Shares of Loews Co. (NYSE:L)

Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Loews Co. (NYSE:L) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,196 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Loews were worth $4,590,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in L. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in Loews by 26.4% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 27,462 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,171,000 after buying an additional 5,742 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Loews by 3.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 248,665 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $19,657,000 after purchasing an additional 7,149 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Loews in the third quarter valued at $204,000. Colonial River Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Loews in the third quarter valued at $204,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Loews by 1.1% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 509,349 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,264,000 after purchasing an additional 5,655 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 58.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Loews from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jonathan M. Tisch sold 3,691 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.89, for a total value of $320,710.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jonathan M. Tisch sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.08, for a total transaction of $4,254,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,105,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $604,538,407.32. This trade represents a 0.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 61,224 shares of company stock valued at $5,210,120 over the last quarter. 18.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Loews Trading Up 0.5 %

L stock opened at $85.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.34. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.69. Loews Co. has a 52 week low of $72.91 and a 52 week high of $88.29. The company has a market capitalization of $18.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.34 and a beta of 0.80.

Loews (NYSE:L) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The insurance provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter. Loews had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 8.04%.

Loews Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a dividend of $0.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. Loews’s dividend payout ratio is 3.91%.

Loews 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.