Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $272.00 to $270.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a market perform rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $245.00 to $238.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lowe’s Companies presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $253.33.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Performance

Shares of LOW opened at $260.14 on Wednesday. Lowe’s Companies has a fifty-two week low of $181.85 and a fifty-two week high of $262.49. The company has a market capitalization of $148.24 billion, a PE ratio of 20.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $243.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $235.36.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.14. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 47.07% and a net margin of 8.25%. The firm had revenue of $23.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.56 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lowe’s Companies will post 11.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. This is a positive change from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 23rd. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 36.95%.

Insider Activity at Lowe’s Companies

In other news, CAO Dan Clayton Griggs, Jr. sold 6,769 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.82, for a total value of $1,684,262.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,334,678.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lowe’s Companies

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 9258 Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 24.8% during the 4th quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,387 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $531,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC increased its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 6,887 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,060 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $458,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the period. Finally, Sachetta LLC purchased a new stake in Lowe’s Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. 74.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.