Natixis Purchases 18,615 Shares of Loews Co. (NYSE:L)

Natixis grew its stake in shares of Loews Co. (NYSE:L - Free Report) by 70.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,978 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 18,615 shares during the quarter. Natixis' holdings in Loews were worth $3,809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in L. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Loews during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $623,493,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Loews by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,476,087 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $378,087,000 after purchasing an additional 210,594 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Loews by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,462,387 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $377,920,000 after buying an additional 33,428 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Loews by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,191,888 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $268,640,000 after buying an additional 8,750 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Loews by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,623,291 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $137,477,000 after purchasing an additional 11,540 shares in the last quarter. 58.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jonathan M. Tisch sold 3,691 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.89, for a total value of $320,710.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jonathan M. Tisch sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 7,105,529 shares of the company's stock, valued at $604,538,407.32. This represents a 0.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 151,327 shares of company stock worth $12,851,055. 18.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Loews Trading Down 1.1 %

L traded down $0.94 during trading on Friday, reaching $85.30. The company had a trading volume of 447,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 732,909. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $86.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.46. 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 $17.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 0.60. Loews Co. has a 12-month low of $73.15 and a 12-month high of $92.42.

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 net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 8.04%.

Loews Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a $0.0625 dividend. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 26th. Loews's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.