First Financial Corp IN Has $283,000 Stock Position in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

First Financial Corp IN trimmed its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 11.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,213 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 156 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $1,842,954,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 350.2% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,373,460 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $585,770,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846,315 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Lowe’s Companies by 26,796.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,657,332 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $386,540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651,170 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Lowe’s Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $314,435,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 24,531.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,228,102 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $303,096,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223,116 shares during the period. 74.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lowe’s Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Truist Financial set a $264.00 price objective on Lowe’s Companies and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Lowe’s Companies to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. KeyCorp raised shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $266.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $266.00 price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lowe’s Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $271.12.

Lowe’s Companies Trading Down 0.1%

Lowe’s Companies stock opened at $225.58 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $224.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $242.45. The company has a market cap of $126.26 billion, a PE ratio of 18.81, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.00. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $206.39 and a 1 year high of $287.01.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $2.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.04. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 47.55% and a net margin of 8.19%. The business had revenue of $20.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.06 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be given a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. This is an increase from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 23rd. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.77%.

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.