Easterly Investment Partners LLC Decreases Position in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC lowered its position in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 15.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,062 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lowe’s Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations purchased a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lowe’s Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Juliette Williams Pryor sold 1,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 31,898 shares in the company, valued at $7,256,795. This trade represents a 3.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LOW. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $266.00 price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $285.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $295.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $300.00 to $263.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $253.00 price target (down from $269.00) on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lowe’s Companies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $271.12.

Lowe’s Companies Price Performance

LOW opened at $218.68 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $122.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $223.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.40. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $2.92 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $21.09 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 8.22% and a negative return on equity of 49.12%. Lowe’s Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. 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. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.11%.

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.