Rockport Wealth LLC Invests $488,000 in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Rockport Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,917 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $488,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 5.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,693,630 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $13,677,378,000 after buying an additional 2,674,372 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $1,638,746,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,211,131 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $714,637,000 after buying an additional 41,451 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,851,127 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $634,518,000 after buying an additional 52,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $430,090,000. 74.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $246.00 target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Lowe’s Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $250.00 to $225.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $270.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $250.04.

Lowe’s Companies Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Lowe’s Companies stock traded down $1.96 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $238.31. 2,203,524 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,548,701. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $181.85 and a 1 year high of $262.49. The business has a 50-day moving average of $223.67 and a 200-day moving average of $228.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $135.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.08.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $3.06 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.67 earnings per share. Lowe’s Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 12.23 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.25%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 24th. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.34%.

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.