Fiera Capital Corp Sells 89,255 Shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Fiera Capital Corp lessened its stake in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 11.2% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 708,765 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 89,255 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $165,305,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,270,496 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $6,483,558,000 after buying an additional 259,766 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,979,337 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,952,341,000 after purchasing an additional 245,876 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 16.3% during the fourth 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 period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,035,630 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,242,793,000 after purchasing an additional 323,371 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,369,942 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $831,702,000 after purchasing an additional 66,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lowe’s Companies

In other Lowe’s Companies news, EVP Juliette Williams Pryor sold 1,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.50, for a total value of $257,075.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 31,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,256,795. This trade represents a 3.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $300.00 to $263.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $300.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $270.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $244.00 to $242.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $271.12.

Lowe’s Companies Price Performance

Shares of Lowe’s Companies stock opened at $229.98 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $128.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $222.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $232.14. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $206.38 and a fifty-two week high of $287.01.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $2.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $20.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter last year, the business posted $3.06 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be issued a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 23rd. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. This is a positive change from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. 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.