Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Grows Position in Loews Corporation $L

Key Points

• Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Loews by 78.3% in the first quarter, ending with 69,774 shares valued at about $7.45 million.
• Insider activity also showed confidence: Director Dino Robusto bought 5,000 shares at an average price of $104.74, increasing his ownership by nearly 96%.
• Loews reported Q1 EPS of $1.63 on revenue of $4.55 billion; the stock traded at $114.47 with a consensus analyst rating of Buy.

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Loews Corporation (NYSE:L - Free Report) by 78.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,774 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 30,636 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Loews were worth $7,448,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Loews during the first quarter valued at $222,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Loews by 0.6% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 215,795 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $23,034,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its position in Loews by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 3,454 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. Tevis Investment Management grew its position in Loews by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Tevis Investment Management now owns 33,548 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,581,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the period. Finally, Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension raised its stake in shares of Loews by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Arbejdsmarkedets Tillaegspension now owns 236,481 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $25,242,000 after buying an additional 9,697 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Loews

In related news, Director Dino Robusto purchased 5,000 shares of Loews stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $104.74 per share, with a total value of $523,700.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 10,235 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,072,013.90. The trade was a 95.51% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 19.00% of the company's stock.

Loews Stock Performance

NYSE L opened at $114.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $109.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.30. The company has a market cap of $23.55 billion, a PE ratio of 14.55 and a beta of 0.52. Loews Corporation has a 1-year low of $89.32 and a 1-year high of $119.10.

Loews (NYSE:L - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The insurance provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter. Loews had a net margin of 8.83% and a return on equity of 8.51%.

Loews Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a $0.0625 dividend. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Loews's payout ratio is 3.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings downgraded Loews from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Loews presently has a consensus rating of "Buy".

About Loews

Loews Corporation NYSE: L is a diversified holding company that owns and operates businesses across insurance, hospitality, energy-related operations and other industrial and investment activities. The company holds controlling and significant minority interests in subsidiaries that run as standalone businesses, with corporate oversight focused on capital allocation, risk management and long-term value creation for shareholders.

One of Loews' principal businesses is insurance, conducted through CNA Financial, a commercial property and casualty insurer that underwrites a range of business insurance products for corporate and institutional clients.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding L? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Loews Corporation (NYSE:L - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.