The money manager and editor of The Global Analyst explains, "The company's businesses are mostly doing well; the balance sheet is rock solid; and the shares are undervalued.

Continue reading Loews Corp. (L): Investing with the Tisch Family

Loews Corp. (L): Investing with the Tisch Family originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Loews (NYSE: L), the holding company of the New York-based Tisch family, is a way of buying a collection of good stocks at a discount, with much else thrown in free," says Adrian Day.

The editor of the top-notch The Global Analyst explains, "These value investors have a long record of buying quality assets cheaply when they are out of favor, nurturing them, and eventually monetizing them."

"Everyone loves a sale, right? Typically, the Tisch family buys major chunks of out-of-favor businesses, often publicly traded, and holds them for many years. They exemplify the important traits of successful value investors: discipline and patience.

"I calculate a New Asset Value for Loews-taking current (depressed) stock prices for its publicly traded holdings, the cash, and conservative valuations for the private assets-of almost $39 per share.

Continue reading Loews (L): Buying value assets at a discount

Loews (L): Buying value assets at a discount originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Allstate (ALL) slips on Loews (LTR) earnings

Allstate (ALL) slips on Loews (LTR) earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 11 Feb 2008 12:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Don't confuse conglomerate Loews (LTR) with that other company

Don't confuse conglomerate Loews (LTR) with that other company originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I recently posted Chasing Value: Final list -- 8 stocks for 2008 and mentioned that all of them pay a dividend. If this year is going to be as gloomy as some would have you believe, then stocks that pay dividends, as a group, will outshine those that do not.

The following are my eight picks, with the closing stock price as of my start date December 28, 2007 and the dividend yield. Last year, there were more stocks among my picks that paid a dividend higher than the S&P 500 Index average of 1.8% . This year there are only two.

• Anglo American plc (ADR) (NASDAQ: AAUK) $30.79. 1.9%
• Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG) BG was $119.03. 0.56%
• Huaneng Power International, Inc. (ADR) (NYSE: HNP) HNP was $41.75. 3.5%
• Loews Corp. (NYSE: LTR) at $49.35. 0.50%
• Newcastle Investment Corp. (NYSE: NCT) was $13.08. 22%
• Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN) RTN was $61.51. 1.65%
• Reliance Steel & Aluminum (NYSE: RS) $54.32 per share. 0.58%
• Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) VLO was $70.55. 0.66%

Continue reading Chasing Value: Final 8 -- love dividends

Chasing Value: Final 8 -- love dividends originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 07 Jan 2008 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• General theme was favoring large cap over small cap
• Technology is coming back into favor in addition to healthcare
• Investors should avoid Asia

Top fund managers congregate originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 May 2007 14:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The worst news may be out on the big home improvement retailers. At least the short community seems to be signaling that. Often when short sellers exit a sector -- especially the large companies in a sector -- it is a sign of a bottom in these stocks.

The New York Stock Exchange is out with its short interest for September. The No.10 and No.11 places for stocks with largest drops in shares short are Lowes Companies Inc. (NYSE:LOW) and The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) respectively. Lowes' short interest dropped over 5.7 million shares to 35.7 million shares. Home Depot's short interest was down almost 5.1 million shares to 27 million. These are significant decreases.

After dropping from $43.95 in March, Home Depot hit $32.85 in August. It has staged a modest recovery to $35.85. Lowes hit a 52-week high of $34.85 last December. It dropped to $25.16 last month and now stands at $28.37.

Some of the recent trends with the big companies have given weary investors some hope. Moody's upgraded Lowes debt on August 29. Improved margins and operating cash flow drove the upgrade. A Morningstar analyst trumpeted the company's prospects in Forbes.

Home Depot is no longer taking quite the beating it has over CEO pay and a slowing housing market. Even Jim Cramer has stated that strong consumer spending will continues and Home Depot, among others, will benefit.

With commodity and gas prices dropping, consumers may feel that they can afford more trips to their favorite retailers. And a better commodities picture will help margins at both Home Depot and Lowes.

The shorts may be right to unwind their negative bets.

Douglas McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

The shorts run from Home Depot and Lowes originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 22 Sep 2006 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.