Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) Price Target to $285.00

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) had its target price trimmed by Royal Bank of Canada from $292.00 to $285.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the home improvement retailer’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $280.83.

Lowe’s Companies Price Performance

Lowe’s Companies stock opened at $248.71 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $252.52 and a 200-day moving average of $259.05. Lowe’s Companies has a one year low of $211.80 and a one year high of $287.01. The company has a market cap of $140.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.11.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The home improvement retailer reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.10. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 8.19% and a negative return on equity of 47.55%. The company had revenue of $18.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.29 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lowe’s Companies will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $866,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $56,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $159,029,000. Finally, Brooklyn FI LLC bought a new position in Lowe’s Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $820,000. 74.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.