Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Wedbush reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $280.00 to $275.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $265.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a market perform rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $253.33.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LOW opened at $260.17 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $243.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $235.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.10. Lowe’s Companies has a one year low of $181.85 and a one year high of $262.49.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.14. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 47.07% and a net margin of 8.25%. The firm had revenue of $23.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.56 earnings per share. Lowe’s Companies’s revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lowe’s Companies will post 11.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 23rd. This is an increase from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio is currently 36.95%.

Insider Activity at Lowe’s Companies

In other news, CAO Dan Clayton Griggs, Jr. sold 6,769 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,334,678.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lowe’s Companies

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tidemark LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in Lowe’s Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 93.3% in the second quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 145 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

About Lowe’s Companies

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.