Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) rose 0.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $258.13 and last traded at $255.70. Approximately 285,155 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 2,487,058 shares. The stock had previously closed at $255.41.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LOW has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $280.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $270.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $245.00 to $238.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Twelve equities research 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 company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $252.83.

Lowe’s Companies Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $241.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $234.94. The stock has a market cap of $146.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.10.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $23.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.56 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. This is a positive change from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Dan Clayton Griggs, Jr. sold 6,769 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.82, for a total value of $1,684,262.58. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,334,678.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lowe’s Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $13,677,378,000 after acquiring an additional 2,674,372 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position 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 worth $1,147,603,000 after purchasing an additional 82,978 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in Lowe’s Companies by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,851,127 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $634,518,000 after purchasing an additional 52,859 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Lowe’s Companies by 36.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Lowe’s Companies by 6.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

About Lowe’s Companies

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.