Cerity Partners LLC Acquires 33,686 Shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 210,662 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,686 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $57,058,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LOW. Crew Capital Management Ltd. raised its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 3,873 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,049,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,375 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group raised its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 1,599 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. raised its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 7,460 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,021,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,894 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Gordon Haskett reduced their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $245.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $306.00 to $301.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $230.00 to $305.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $272.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Dan Clayton Griggs, Jr. sold 6,769 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 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. The trade was a 41.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Margrethe R. Vagell sold 5,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 13,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,586,940.30. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE LOW opened at $264.68 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $268.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $244.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.08, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.10. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.23 and a 52 week high of $287.01.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. This is a positive change from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 23rd. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio is presently 38.37%.

Lowe’s Companies 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.