Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes $651,000 Position in Loews Co. (NYSE:L)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Loews Co. (NYSE:L - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,687 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $651,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Loews during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its position in shares of Loews by 387.6% during the 4th quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 434 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Human Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Loews during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in shares of Loews during the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Loews in the fourth quarter worth approximately $68,000. Institutional investors own 58.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Loews from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th.

Loews Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:L remained flat at $89.39 on Monday. The stock had a trading volume of 421,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 728,507. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.34. Loews Co. has a 52-week low of $73.15 and a 52-week high of $92.42. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.74 billion, a PE ratio of 13.97 and a beta of 0.70.

Loews (NYSE:L - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter. Loews had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 8.04%. The firm had revenue of $4.49 billion during the quarter.

Loews Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $0.0625 per share. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. Loews's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Loews

In related news, SVP Richard Waldo Scott sold 9,019 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.92, for a total value of $792,950.48. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 33,901 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,980,575.92. This represents a 21.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jonathan M. Tisch sold 50,000 shares of Loews 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 sale, the director now owns 6,755,529 shares in the company, valued at approximately $571,923,085.14. This represents a 0.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 156,655 shares of company stock valued at $13,323,294. 19.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Loews Company 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.