Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Reduces Stock Holdings in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lessened its stake in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 10.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,877 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 335 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,880 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,086,000 after buying an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV boosted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 18,786.5% in the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 106,709 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $23,748,000 after acquiring an additional 106,144 shares during the period. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC now owns 215,442 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $47,947,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 824.6% during the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 15,339 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,414,000 after purchasing an additional 13,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 45,072 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $10,031,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LOW traded up $4.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $238.87. The stock had a trading volume of 1,942,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,878,763. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $223.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $229.47. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $181.85 and a 52 week high of $262.49. The company has a market capitalization of $136.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.08.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.12. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 8.46%. The firm had revenue of $21.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 12.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 24th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 24th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.25%. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 36.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on LOW. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $271.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $250.00 to $225.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $243.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lowe’s Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $250.04.

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.