Norges Bank Buys New Shares in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. $LOW

Norges Bank bought a new stake in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 8,267,112 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,993,697,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,230,787 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $13,560,617,000 after buying an additional 924,625 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,036,276 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $6,291,867,000 after buying an additional 124,501 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,326,581 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,201,329,000 after buying an additional 887,579 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Lowe’s Companies by 1.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,830,080 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,716,467,000 after purchasing an additional 103,827 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Lowe’s Companies by 5.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,830,373 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,213,921,000 after purchasing an additional 240,123 shares during the period. 74.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LOW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Craig Hallum raised shares of Lowe’s Companies to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “market perform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $292.00 to $277.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $260.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Twenty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lowe’s Companies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $264.57.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Performance

LOW opened at $214.45 on Friday. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $208.00 and a fifty-two week high of $293.06. The company has a market capitalization of $120.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $232.49 and a 200-day moving average of $247.36.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.06. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 67.96% and a net margin of 7.51%.The company had revenue of $23.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. Lowe’s Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.250-12.750 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 12.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 22nd will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. This is a boost from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 22nd. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio is presently 40.57%.

Lowe’s Companies Company Profile

Lowe’s Companies, Inc is a leading home improvement retailer that operates large-format stores and digital channels serving both do-it-yourself homeowners and professional contractors. The company offers a broad assortment of products including building materials, lumber, appliances, tools and hardware, plumbing and electrical supplies, paint, flooring, kitchen and bath fixtures, outdoor and garden products, and home decor. Lowe’s also provides a range of services such as installation, home improvement financing, tool and equipment rental, and contractor-focused sales programs.

Operations are centered on a nationwide brick-and-mortar store network supported by distribution centers and an e-commerce platform that enables online ordering, delivery and in-store pickup.