National Bank of Canada FI Sells 7,855 Shares of Loews Co. (NYSE:L)

National Bank of Canada FI reduced its stake in Loews Co. (NYSE:L - Free Report) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 97,094 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 7,855 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI's holdings in Loews were worth $8,223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Loews in the fourth quarter worth $623,493,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Loews by 345.4% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 296,538 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $25,114,000 after buying an additional 229,965 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in Loews by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,499,417 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $126,983,000 after acquiring an additional 217,115 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Loews during the 4th quarter valued at about $12,727,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Loews by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,012,829 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $84,602,000 after acquiring an additional 89,902 shares during the last quarter. 58.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Loews

In related news, Director Jonathan M. Tisch sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.66, for a total transaction of $4,233,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,755,529 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $571,923,085.14. This trade represents a 0.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jonathan M. Tisch sold 3,691 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.89, for a total transaction of $320,710.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 151,327 shares of company stock valued at $12,851,055 over the last 90 days. 18.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Loews Stock Performance

Shares of L stock traded down $1.81 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $84.52. 124,418 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 731,340. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $17.78 billion, a PE ratio of 13.23 and a beta of 0.60. Loews Co. has a 12 month low of $72.91 and a 12 month high of $92.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $85.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.92.

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

Loews Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.0625 per share. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Loews's payout ratio is 3.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Loews from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th.

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.