New York State Common Retirement Fund Lowers Position in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 11.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 862,552 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 107,249 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.15% of Lowe’s Companies worth $191,961,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LOW. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lowe’s Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 85.4% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 152 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Lowe’s Companies during the third quarter worth $40,000. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. 74.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on LOW shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $199.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $280.00 to $275.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on Lowe’s Companies from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird raised Lowe’s Companies from an “average” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Lowe’s Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $252.52.

Lowe’s Companies Price Performance

Shares of Lowe’s Companies stock traded up $0.99 during trading on Monday, hitting $231.23. 1,872,805 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,537,865. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $239.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $219.11. The stock has a market cap of $132.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.13. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $181.85 and a 12-month high of $262.49.

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

Lowe’s Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.