Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) Position Decreased by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank reduced its holdings in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 0.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,592,500 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 10,100 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $371,419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LOW. AlphaCore Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 387.7% during the first quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 6,262 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,461,000 after buying an additional 4,978 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,022,959 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $238,585,000 after acquiring an additional 98,574 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 23,655 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $5,517,000 after acquiring an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 1,263 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waycross Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 51.8% in the 1st quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 103,255 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $24,082,000 after acquiring an additional 35,233 shares during the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Juliette Williams Pryor sold 1,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.50, for a total transaction of $257,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 31,898 shares in the company, valued at $7,256,795. The trade was a 3.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on LOW shares. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $266.00 price target on Lowe’s Companies and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $300.00 to $263.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Lowe’s Companies from $295.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Lowe’s Companies from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $266.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lowe’s Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $270.68.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LOW opened at $238.47 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $224.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $231.12. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $206.38 and a 52 week high of $287.01. The firm has a market cap of $133.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.89.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $2.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $20.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.09 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 8.22% and a negative return on equity of 49.12%. The business’s revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.06 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd were given a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 23rd. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. This is an increase from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.77%.

Lowe’s Companies 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.