Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Reduces Holdings in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. $LOW

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC reduced its position in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,951 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 380 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $4,205,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vertex Planning Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 1,582 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $369,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Lowe’s Companies by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,386 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,189,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. raised its position in Lowe’s Companies by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 5,817 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,357,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 865 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Lowe’s Companies by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,570 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LOW has been the subject of a number of research reports. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $240.00 to $266.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $253.00 to $242.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $266.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Barclays set a $267.00 price target on Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.13.

Lowe’s Companies Price Performance

Shares of LOW opened at $270.92 on Wednesday. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $206.38 and a 1-year high of $287.01. The stock has a market cap of $151.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $245.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $232.06.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $23.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.99 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 52.02% and a net margin of 8.20%.Lowe’s Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.10 EPS. Lowe’s Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 12.200-12.450 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.012 per share. This represents a $0.05 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 22nd. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.44%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Joseph Michael Mcfarland sold 43,810 shares of Lowe’s Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.60, for a total transaction of $11,942,606.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 66,566 shares in the company, valued at $18,145,891.60. The trade was a 39.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brandon J. Sink sold 8,192 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.58, for a total transaction of $2,200,207.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 21,603 shares in the company, valued at $5,802,133.74. The trade was a 27.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 92,931 shares of company stock worth $24,945,752. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Lowe’s Companies 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.