Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 637 Shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 17,227 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 637 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $4,018,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LOW. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 119.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 31,965 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $7,889,000 after acquiring an additional 17,413 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,078 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 54.8% during the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 8,560 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,113,000 after acquiring an additional 3,032 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 3,572 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $882,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, Regal Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,471 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,337,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on 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. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $266.00 price objective on Lowe’s Companies and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $295.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped 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 report on Monday, May 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $270.68.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LOW opened at $256.65 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $225.57 and a 200-day moving average of $230.69. The company has a market capitalization of $143.84 billion, a PE ratio of 21.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.89. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $206.38 and a 52-week high of $287.01.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $2.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.04. The company 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 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd were issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. This is a boost from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 23rd. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.77%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Juliette Williams Pryor sold 1,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 31,898 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,256,795. This represents a 3.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.