Ballentine Partners LLC Purchases 729 Shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 8.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,625 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 729 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $2,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,930,693 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,271,836,000 after purchasing an additional 116,855 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,638,746,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,211,131 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $714,637,000 after acquiring an additional 41,451 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,851,127 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $634,518,000 after acquiring an additional 52,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $430,090,000. Institutional investors own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $243.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $255.00 to $250.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Gordon Haskett reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a report on Monday, March 4th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $251.33.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Performance

Lowe’s Companies stock traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $228.68. The stock had a trading volume of 73,263 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,429,993. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $181.85 and a fifty-two week high of $262.49. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $226.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $228.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.31 billion, a PE ratio of 18.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.08.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.12. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 8.46%. The company had revenue of $21.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 12.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 24th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 24th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio is presently 35.34%.

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.