UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Boosts Stock Holdings in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp increased its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,269 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOW. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 2,984.6% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,038,069 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $475,339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,971,996 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 350.2% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,373,460 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $585,770,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846,315 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 26,796.0% during 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. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 1,048.5% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 739,727 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $172,527,000 after purchasing an additional 675,318 shares in the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. KeyCorp raised shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $266.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $244.00 to $242.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lowe’s Companies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $270.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lowe’s Companies

In other news, EVP Juliette Williams Pryor sold 1,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.50, for a total value of $257,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 31,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,256,795. The trade was a 3.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Lowe’s Companies Price Performance

Shares of LOW stock opened at $226.33 on Friday. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $206.38 and a 12 month high of $287.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $223.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $231.74.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last issued 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 net margin of 8.22% and a negative return on equity of 49.12%. The firm had revenue of $20.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.06 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be given a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 23rd. This is an increase from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio is presently 39.77%.

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.