Victory Capital Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 10.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 536,533 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,856 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $145,320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bamco Inc. NY boosted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 216,958 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $55,266,000 after purchasing an additional 20,181 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 655.9% during the 1st quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 6,304 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 5,470 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. lifted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 215,651 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $58,409,000 after acquiring an additional 2,322 shares during the period. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,569 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,637,000 after acquiring an additional 2,889 shares during the period. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 159,742 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $43,290,000 after acquiring an additional 20,123 shares during the period. 74.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on LOW. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $323.00 target price for the company. Loop Capital raised shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Gordon Haskett cut their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $245.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $275.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.84.

Insider Activity

In other Lowe’s Companies news, CAO Dan Clayton Griggs, Jr. sold 6,769 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,334,678.06. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Lowe’s Companies news, CAO Dan Clayton Griggs, Jr. sold 6,769 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,334,678.06. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Margrethe R. Vagell sold 5,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.45, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Lowe’s Companies Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of LOW stock opened at $269.84 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $265.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $242.57. The stock has a market cap of $153.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.10. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $192.10 and a twelve month 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $23.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.93 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 8.25% and a negative return on equity of 47.07%. The company’s revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.56 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.92 EPS for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. 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 payout ratio is presently 38.14%.

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.