KBC Group NV Decreases Position in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

KBC Group NV lowered its stake in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 29.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 196,891 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 83,653 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $53,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 5.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,693,630 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $13,677,378,000 after purchasing an additional 2,674,372 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 1,889.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,134,969 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $578,256,000 after buying an additional 2,027,668 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its position in Lowe’s Companies by 20,275.6% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,205,014 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,657,000 after buying an additional 1,199,100 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies during the first quarter valued at about $217,995,000. Finally, Applied Finance Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 387.7% during the third quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 811,374 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $219,761,000 after acquiring an additional 645,017 shares during the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LOW. 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. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $262.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $306.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group raised shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $275.00 to $305.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $273.84.

Insider Transactions at Lowe’s Companies

In other news, EVP Margrethe R. Vagell sold 5,730 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.45, for a total value of $1,555,408.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,214 shares in the company, valued at $3,586,940.30. This trade represents a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Dan Clayton Griggs, Jr. sold 6,769 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,383 shares in the company, valued at $2,334,678.06. This represents a 41.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Down 0.7 %

LOW stock opened at $270.35 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $266.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $243.06. The stock has a market cap of $153.37 billion, a PE ratio of 22.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 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.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last announced its quarterly 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. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 8.25% and a negative return on equity of 47.07%. The company had revenue of $23.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.56 earnings per share. Lowe’s Companies’s revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were paid a $1.15 dividend. This is a boost from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.14%.

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.