West Paces Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

West Paces Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 37.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 408 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 249 shares during the quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $95,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOW. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 19,830 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,894,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 106,305 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $26,236,000 after purchasing an additional 13,092 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors boosted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 26,329 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $6,498,000 after purchasing an additional 2,615 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 472,838 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $116,696,000 after purchasing an additional 7,187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,074,391 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,745,960,000 after purchasing an additional 993,833 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LOW. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $285.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $300.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $266.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $266.00 price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $270.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $271.12.

Lowe’s Companies Price Performance

NYSE LOW opened at $223.59 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.92. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $206.39 and a 1-year high of $287.01. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $223.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $241.12.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $2.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.09 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.06 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be issued a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. This is an increase from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 23rd. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio is 39.77%.

Insider Activity at Lowe’s Companies

In other news, EVP Juliette Williams Pryor sold 1,130 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.50, for a total value of $257,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 31,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,256,795. This represents a 3.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.