Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) Shares Up 1.7% After Analyst Upgrade

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)’s share price was up 1.7% during trading on Thursday after TD Cowen raised their price target on the stock from $240.00 to $265.00. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the stock. Lowe’s Companies traded as high as $262.25 and last traded at $261.05. Approximately 404,639 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 2,471,689 shares. The stock had previously closed at $256.63.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on LOW. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $290.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $272.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating 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 report on Wednesday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $253.33.

Insider Activity

In other Lowe’s Companies news, CAO Dan Clayton Griggs, Jr. sold 6,769 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.82, for a total transaction of $1,684,262.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,383 shares in the company, valued at $2,334,678.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lowe’s Companies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,693,630 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $13,677,378,000 after purchasing an additional 2,674,372 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,205,491 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,147,603,000 after purchasing an additional 82,978 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,851,127 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $634,518,000 after acquiring an additional 52,859 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 36.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,840,704 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $468,884,000 after purchasing an additional 493,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,617,849 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $356,671,000 after purchasing an additional 90,945 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $148.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $242.43 and a 200-day moving average of $235.09.

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

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be given 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 1.77%. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio 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.