Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. Buys New Position in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 148 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $33,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lowe’s Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $200,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC now owns 7,829 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,742,000 after buying an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Lowe’s Companies by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,615 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,585,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,211,131 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $714,637,000 after buying an additional 41,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Welch & Forbes LLC grew its position in Lowe’s Companies by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 17,514 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,898,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LOW shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $190.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Wedbush boosted their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Lowe’s Companies from $280.00 to $275.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $252.67.

Lowe’s Companies Trading Down 0.1 %

LOW traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $231.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,912,237 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,453,542. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $181.85 and a 1 year high of $262.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $240.00 and its 200-day moving average is $221.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.59, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.15.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The home improvement retailer reported $1.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $18.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.47 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 51.42% and a net margin of 8.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.28 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 12.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.43%.

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.