Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 2.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 748,565 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 22,116 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $174,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Gen Wealth Partners Inc increased its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 2,163 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Second Line Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 4,793 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,183,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. increased its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 0.8% during the first quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 5,817 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,357,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 5.9% during the first quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 865 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 1.1% during the first quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,570 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.50, for a total transaction of $257,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 31,898 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,256,795. The trade was a 3.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $266.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $285.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Mizuho restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $280.00 price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $300.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $270.68.

Lowe’s Companies Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:LOW opened at $240.04 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $134.53 billion, a PE ratio of 19.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.89. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $206.38 and a twelve month high of $287.01. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $224.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $230.41.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last issued 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 business had revenue of $20.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.09 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 8.22% and a negative return on equity of 49.12%. The company’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.06 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd were given a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 23rd. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is a boost from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio is presently 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.