Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,994 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $889,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LOW. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC raised its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 9.8% during the first quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 1,381 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. United Bank increased its position in Lowe’s Companies by 6.8% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 9,734 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,968,000 after acquiring an additional 617 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC bought a new position in Lowe’s Companies during the first quarter valued at $1,629,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Lowe’s Companies by 0.4% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 256,098 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $51,780,000 after acquiring an additional 920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in Lowe’s Companies by 74.6% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 295 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LOW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Lowe’s Companies from an “average” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Gordon Haskett reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $280.00 to $275.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $238.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $252.52.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:LOW opened at $228.31 on Wednesday. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $181.85 and a fifty-two week high of $262.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $130.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $239.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $218.31.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The home improvement retailer reported $1.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.09. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 8.94% and a negative return on equity of 51.42%. The business had revenue of $18.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.28 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 12.21 EPS for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.43%.

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.