Swiss National Bank Lowers Position in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Swiss National Bank decreased its position in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 0.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,691,300 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 2,800 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $458,089,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOW. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 1.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,205,491 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,147,603,000 after purchasing an additional 82,978 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 1,889.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,134,969 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $578,256,000 after purchasing an additional 2,027,668 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 36.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,840,704 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $468,884,000 after purchasing an additional 493,180 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 6.0% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,617,849 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $356,671,000 after purchasing an additional 90,945 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Lowe’s Companies by 11.1% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,499,015 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $330,473,000 after acquiring an additional 149,649 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Margrethe R. Vagell sold 5,730 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 13,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,586,940.30. This represents a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Dan Clayton Griggs, Jr. sold 6,769 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,334,678.06. This trade represents a 41.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LOW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Melius Research initiated coverage on Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $290.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Telsey Advisory Group upgraded Lowe’s Companies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $275.00 to $305.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Oppenheimer upgraded Lowe’s Companies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $230.00 to $305.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.84.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Lowe’s Companies stock opened at $269.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $152.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.10. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $196.23 and a fifty-two week high of $287.01. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $267.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $243.62.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $23.59 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. 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 dividend payout ratio is 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.