Loews (NYSE:L) Rating Increased to Moderate Buy at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Loews (NYSE:L) to a moderate buy rating in a report published on Friday morning, Zacks.com reports.

Loews Price Performance

Shares of NYSE L opened at $78.86 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 has a market cap of $17.46 billion, a PE ratio of 11.70 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.40. Loews has a fifty-two week low of $61.29 and a fifty-two week high of $83.54.

Loews (NYSE:L) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported $2.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Loews had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 9.27%. The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter.

Loews Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 29th were paid a $0.0625 dividend. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 29th. Loews’s payout ratio is 3.71%.

Insider Transactions at Loews

In related news, insider Jonathan M. Tisch sold 50,000 shares of Loews stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.24, for a total transaction of $3,862,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 507,799 shares in the company, valued at $39,222,394.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 150,000 shares of company stock worth $11,588,500 over the last three months. 18.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Loews in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $511,159,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Loews by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,156,933 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,656,376,000 after purchasing an additional 507,513 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Loews in the first quarter valued at approximately $23,646,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Loews by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,503,105 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $174,191,000 after purchasing an additional 266,729 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its holdings in Loews by 60.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 555,768 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $38,676,000 after purchasing an additional 208,356 shares during the period. 58.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 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.