Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) Stock Position Increased by National Pension Service

National Pension Service grew its position in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 985,410 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,817 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.17% of Lowe’s Companies worth $219,303,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Lowe’s Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Lowe’s Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 85.4% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 152 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on LOW shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $243.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $218.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $265.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $252.67.

Lowe’s Companies Price Performance

Shares of LOW traded up $3.63 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $235.70. 576,132 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,423,789. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $240.00 and a 200-day moving average of $221.68. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $181.85 and a one year high of $262.49. The firm has a market cap of $134.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.63, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.15.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The home improvement retailer reported $1.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.09. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 8.94% and a negative return on equity of 51.42%. The business had revenue of $18.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.28 earnings per share. Lowe’s Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 12.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th were issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 23rd. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio 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.