Loews Co. (NYSE:L) Short Interest Down 26.1% in March

Loews Co. (NYSE:L - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,670,000 shares, a drop of 26.1% from the March 15th total of 2,260,000 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 804,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jonathan M. Tisch sold 3,691 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jonathan M. Tisch sold 47,636 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.88, for a total transaction of $4,043,343.68. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,705,529 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $569,165,301.52. This trade represents a 0.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 151,327 shares of company stock valued at $12,851,055. Insiders own 18.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Loews during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Loews during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its stake in Loews by 387.6% in the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 434 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Loews in the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Loews by 80.1% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 470 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.33% of the company's stock.

Loews Stock Performance

Loews stock traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $86.19. The company had a trading volume of 472,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 733,204. The company has a market capitalization of $18.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.47 and a beta of 0.60. Loews has a 12-month low of $73.15 and a 12-month high of $92.42. The company's fifty day moving average is $86.01 and its 200-day moving average is $84.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Loews (NYSE:L - Get Free Report) last announced 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a $0.0625 dividend. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. Loews's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.91%.

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.