Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Acquires 83,917 Shares of Loews Corporation $L

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Loews Corporation (NYSE:L) by 1,252.7% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 90,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 83,917 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Loews were worth $9,672,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Loews during the 4th quarter worth about $577,279,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Loews by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,237,922 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $340,986,000 after purchasing an additional 786,381 shares in the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec grew its stake in shares of Loews by 819.0% during the fourth quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 448,032 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $47,182,000 after purchasing an additional 399,281 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Loews by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,984,234 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $419,581,000 after purchasing an additional 344,995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Loews by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,999,186 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $524,599,000 after purchasing an additional 271,234 shares in the last quarter. 58.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Loews Stock Performance

Shares of L stock opened at $119.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $24.62 billion, a PE ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $111.14 and a 200-day moving average of $108.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Loews Corporation has a one year low of $89.32 and a one year high of $121.01.

Loews (NYSE:L) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The insurance provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm 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 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.0625 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $0.25 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. Loews’s payout ratio is currently 3.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings downgraded Loews from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Insider Transactions at Loews

In other Loews news, Director Dino Robusto purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $104.74 per share, for a total transaction of $523,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 10,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,072,013.90. The trade was a 95.51% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 19.00% of the company’s stock.

Loews Profile

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.