Bell Bank Has $1.33 Million Stock Position in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Bell Bank raised its stake in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,921 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the quarter. Bell Bank’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $1,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 9,218 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,497,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 1.7% during the third quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 4,475 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,212,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 19.9% during the third quarter. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,572 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $426,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Parthenon LLC boosted its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 13.6% in the third quarter. Parthenon LLC now owns 3,771 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,021,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GHE LLC increased its position in Lowe’s Companies by 0.8% in the third quarter. GHE LLC now owns 24,485 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $6,582,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. 74.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lowe’s Companies Price Performance

Shares of Lowe’s Companies stock opened at $272.32 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $265.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $242.85. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $196.23 and a one year high of $287.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.58, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last issued its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $23.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.93 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 47.07% and a net margin of 8.25%. Lowe’s Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.93 EPS for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is a positive change from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 23rd. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio is currently 38.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lowe’s Companies

In other Lowe’s Companies news, CAO Dan Clayton Griggs, Jr. sold 6,769 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.82, for a total value of $1,684,262.58. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Dan Clayton Griggs, Jr. sold 6,769 shares of Lowe’s Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,334,678.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Margrethe R. Vagell sold 5,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.45, for a total transaction of $1,555,408.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 13,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,586,940.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LOW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $323.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer upgraded Lowe’s Companies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $230.00 to $305.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $275.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $273.84.

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.