Blue Capital Inc. Makes New $618,000 Investment in Loews Co. (NYSE:L)

Blue Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Loews Co. (NYSE:L - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,295 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $618,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in L. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Loews in the 4th quarter worth about $623,493,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Loews by 345.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 296,538 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $25,114,000 after purchasing an additional 229,965 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in Loews by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,499,417 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $126,983,000 after purchasing an additional 217,115 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Loews by 4.9% in the fourth 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. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Loews by 51.2% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 531,038 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $44,974,000 after acquiring an additional 179,772 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jonathan M. Tisch sold 3,691 shares of the firm'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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jonathan M. Tisch sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 6,755,529 shares of the company's stock, 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 quarter, insiders sold 151,327 shares of company stock valued at $12,851,055. Insiders own 19.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Loews from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday.

Loews Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE:L traded up $1.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $87.91. 667,556 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 731,980. The company has a market capitalization of $18.49 billion, a PE ratio of 13.74 and a beta of 0.70. Loews Co. has a fifty-two week low of $73.15 and a fifty-two week high of $92.42. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.83. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Loews had a net margin of 8.08% and a return on equity of 8.04%. The business had revenue of $4.49 billion for the quarter.

Loews Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. Loews's dividend payout ratio 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.