Wall Street Financial Group Inc. Purchases 82 Shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Wall Street Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 7.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,259 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Wall Street Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Convergence Financial LLC boosted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 9.0% during the first quarter. Convergence Financial LLC now owns 8,231 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,920,000 after buying an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Lowe’s Companies by 4.7% during the first quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,233 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $521,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in Lowe’s Companies by 0.6% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,299,397 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $303,058,000 after purchasing an additional 7,560 shares during the period. Patron Partners LLC raised its position in Lowe’s Companies by 12.7% during the first quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $722,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Finally, Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its position in Lowe’s Companies by 75.2% during the first quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 7,460 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,624,000 after purchasing an additional 3,202 shares during the period. 74.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Up 1.1%

LOW opened at $223.66 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $223.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $236.04. The company has a market capitalization of $125.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.53, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.92. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $206.39 and a 52 week high of $287.01.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $2.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $20.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.09 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 49.12% and a net margin of 8.22%. Lowe’s Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.06 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. This is an increase from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 23rd. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LOW. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $266.00 price objective on Lowe’s Companies and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Mizuho restated an “outperform” rating and set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $253.00 price objective (down from $269.00) on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $244.00 to $242.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Lowe’s Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lowe’s Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $271.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lowe’s Companies 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 transaction of $257,075.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 31,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,256,795. This trade represents a 3.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lowe’s Companies Company 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.