Loews Corporation (L) is a holding company. The company’s subsidiaries are engaged in commercial property and casualty insurance, operation of offshore oil and gas drilling rigs, exploration, production and marketing of natural gas and oil (including condensate and natural gas liquids), interstate transportation and storage of natural gas and operation of hotels. L is currently trading around $43.41 in a 52 week range of $39.38 – 49.05. The company’s stock has been underperforming the NASDAQ this year with shares decreasing 10.02% year to date, however shares have traded up 3% in the last 3 months.
Loews is set to issue its Q3 earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $0.68 per share for the quarter. Analysts at Deutsche Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Loews in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They now have a $50.00 price target on the stock. On a related note, analysts at Zack’s upgraded shares of Loews from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. They now have a $46.00 price target on the stock.
Looking at the company’s earnings history, L has traded neutral 3 of the last 8 quarters. On average, the stock has moved about 1.5% in the last 8 quarters as a result of earnings releases. This neutral activity might indicate that L will not fluctuate much in price, yet since shares have traded lower this year, there might be some selling pressure after the company reports earnings. This earnings season, market makers are implying about a +- 5.8% move in the stock for the November monthly option chain, which is over 3 weeks away. L is currently trading neutral in the Ichimoku Cloud on the daily chart, oscillating in and out of the cloud for a few months.