O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc Acquires 44 Shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc grew its holdings in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,003 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the quarter. O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 93.3% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 145 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 118.6% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC raised its position in Lowe’s Companies by 128.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 178 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $230.00 to $305.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Gordon Haskett reduced their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $245.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $271.60.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LOW traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $261.56. The stock had a trading volume of 529,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,435,233. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $262.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $240.45. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.77 and a twelve month high of $287.01. The firm has a market cap of $149.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.10.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.14. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 8.25% and a negative return on equity of 47.07%. The business had revenue of $23.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.56 earnings per share. Lowe’s Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. This is a boost from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Dan Clayton Griggs, Jr. sold 6,769 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.82, for a total transaction of $1,684,262.58. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,383 shares in the company, valued at $2,334,678.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Margrethe R. Vagell sold 5,730 shares of Lowe’s Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.45, for a total transaction of $1,555,408.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,214 shares in the company, valued at $3,586,940.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Dan Clayton Griggs, Jr. sold 6,769 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.82, for a total transaction of $1,684,262.58. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,334,678.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.