Hedge Funds Are Dumping Loews Corporation (L)

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A market correction in the third quarter, spurred by a number of global macroeconomic concerns ended up having a negative impact on the markets and many hedge funds as a result. The stocks of smaller companies were especially hard hit during this time as investors fled to investments seen as being safer. This is evident in the fact that the Russell 2000 ETF underperformed the S&P 500 ETF by 14 percentage points between June 25 and the end of October. We also received indications that hedge funds were trimming their positions amid the market volatility and uncertainty, and given their greater inclination towards smaller cap stocks than other investors, it follows that a stronger sell-off occurred in those stocks. Let’s study the hedge fund sentiment to see how those concerns affected their ownership of Loews Corporation (NYSE:L) during the quarter.

Loews Corporation (NYSE:L) was in 19 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. L has seen a decrease in hedge fund interest in recent months. There were 26 hedge funds in our database with L holdings at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare L to other stocks including Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY), Agrium Inc. (USA) (NYSE:AGU), and Fidelity National Financial Inc (NYSE:FNF) to get a better sense of its popularity.

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Now, let’s view the recent action regarding Loews Corporation (NYSE:L).

Hedge fund activity in Loews Corporation (NYSE:L)

Heading into Q4, a total of 19 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, a change of -27% from the second quarter. With hedge funds’ sentiment swirling, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings meaningfully (or already accumulated large positions).

Of the funds tracked by Insider Monkey, Southeastern Asset Management, managed by Mason Hawkins, holds the most valuable position in Loews Corporation (NYSE:L). Southeastern Asset Management has a $720.4 million position in the stock, comprising 6.1% of its 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund manager is Third Avenue Management, managed by Martin Whitman, which holds a $43.8 million position; 1.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining members of the smart money with similar optimism encompass Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital, Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

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