Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) saw a significant decrease in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,010,000 shares, a decrease of 23.6% from the August 15th total of 9,180,000 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,580,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 5.5% in the second quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 6,764 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,491,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,904,000. Finally, Brown Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,238,000. 74.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on LOW shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $264.00 to $262.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Gordon Haskett decreased their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $245.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lowe’s Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $252.83.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE LOW opened at $255.41 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.10. Lowe’s Companies has a 52-week low of $181.85 and a 52-week high of $262.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $240.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $234.78.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.14. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 8.25% and a negative return on equity of 47.07%. The company had revenue of $23.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.93 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.56 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lowe’s Companies will post 11.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be issued a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 23rd. This is a boost from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.95%.

Lowe’s Companies Company Profile

Lowe's Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a home improvement retailer in the United States. The company offers a line of products for construction, maintenance, repair, remodeling, and decorating. It also provides home improvement products, such as appliances, seasonal and outdoor living, lawn and garden, lumber, kitchens and bath, tools, paint, millwork, hardware, flooring, rough plumbing, building materials, décor, and electrical.