Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) Reaches New 1-Year High at $265.62

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $265.62 and last traded at $265.62, with a volume of 8945 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $262.29.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on LOW. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $290.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer upgraded Lowe’s Companies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $230.00 to $305.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Gordon Haskett cut their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $245.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $272.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $258.13.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $152.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $244.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $235.47.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $23.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.56 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 23rd. This is a positive change from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio is currently 36.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lowe’s Companies news, CAO Dan Clayton Griggs, Jr. sold 6,769 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.82, for a total value of $1,684,262.58. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,334,678.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lowe’s Companies

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 44,376 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $9,783,000 after acquiring an additional 604 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 69.3% in the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 74,500 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $16,424,000 after buying an additional 30,500 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC raised its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 2.7% during the second quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 32,630 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $7,194,000 after acquiring an additional 857 shares during the period. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 5.5% in the second quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 6,764 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,491,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies during the second quarter worth about $218,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

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.