LS Investment Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

LS Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 3.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,442 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $1,745,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LOW. Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its position in Lowe’s Companies by 93.3% during the second quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 145 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. JNBA Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 555.6% during the 3rd quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors now owns 118 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 118.6% during the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies in the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC grew its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 128.2% in the third quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 178 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lowe’s Companies

In other news, EVP Margrethe R. Vagell sold 5,730 shares of Lowe’s Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.45, for a total value of $1,555,408.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 13,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,586,940.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Margrethe R. Vagell sold 5,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.45, for a total value of $1,555,408.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,586,940.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Dan Clayton Griggs, Jr. sold 6,769 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.82, for a total transaction 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 approximately $2,334,678.06. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LOW. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $230.00 to $305.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Lowe’s Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $306.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $272.24.

Lowe’s Companies Trading Up 1.7 %

Lowe’s Companies stock opened at $266.30 on Friday. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $189.05 and a 52 week high of $287.01. The stock has a market cap of $151.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $263.77 and a 200-day moving average of $241.67.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $23.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.93 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 8.25% and a negative return on equity of 47.07%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.56 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were issued a $1.15 dividend. 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 yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 23rd. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio is currently 38.14%.

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.