WASHINGTON TRUST Co Has $526,000 Stake in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,362 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LOW. Hamilton Capital LLC grew its position in Lowe’s Companies by 2.1% during the third quarter. Hamilton Capital LLC now owns 2,439 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $507,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Lowe’s Companies by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 884 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors increased its position in Lowe’s Companies by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors now owns 6,671 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,485,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC increased its position in Lowe’s Companies by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 1,553 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,244 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on LOW shares. StockNews.com cut Lowe’s Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group increased their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $199.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $251.60.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LOW traded up $1.29 during trading on Thursday, hitting $254.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,088,588 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,578,713. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $231.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $215.72. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. 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 $145.69 billion, a PE ratio of 19.20, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.13.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The home improvement retailer reported $1.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.09. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 51.42% and a net margin of 8.94%. The company had revenue of $18.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be given a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.43%.

Lowe’s Companies Profile

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.