Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) Shares Acquired by National Pension Service

National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 985,410 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,817 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $219,303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOW. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 1.1% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,930,693 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,271,836,000 after purchasing an additional 116,855 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,138,824 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,483,733,000 after acquiring an additional 78,901 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Lowe’s Companies by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,211,131 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $714,637,000 after acquiring an additional 41,451 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in Lowe’s Companies by 189.5% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,798,268 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $581,592,000 after acquiring an additional 1,831,727 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 187,225.6% in the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 2,111,159 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $438,783,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110,032 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on LOW shares. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $190.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Lowe’s Companies from an “average” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $243.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lowe’s Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $252.67.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE LOW traded up $3.63 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $235.70. The stock had a trading volume of 576,132 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,423,789. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $240.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $221.68. The company has a market cap of $134.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.15. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $181.85 and a 52-week high of $262.49.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.09. The business 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%. The business’s revenue was down 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.28 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 12.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th were issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date was 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.