Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) Trading Down 2.4%

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)’s share price fell 2.4% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $240.00 and last traded at $241.41. 342,837 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 2,494,233 shares. The stock had previously closed at $247.38.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on LOW. Gordon Haskett decreased their price target on Lowe’s Companies from $245.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $264.00 to $262.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $272.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lowe’s Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $252.83.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $139.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $237.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $234.40.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.14. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 8.25% and a negative return on equity of 47.07%. The business had revenue of $23.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.56 earnings per share. Lowe’s Companies’s revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be issued a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 23rd. This is an increase from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.95%.

Institutional Trading of Lowe’s Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LOW. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,638,746,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 5.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,693,630 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $13,677,378,000 after buying an additional 2,674,372 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 20,275.6% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,205,014 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,657,000 after acquiring an additional 1,199,100 shares in the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies during the first quarter worth $217,995,000. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Lowe’s Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $126,615,000. 74.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.