Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) Price Target Raised to $282.00

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) had its price objective hoisted by Mizuho from $280.00 to $282.00 in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the home improvement retailer’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on LOW. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $290.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Lowe’s Companies from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.92.

Lowe’s Companies Price Performance

Lowe’s Companies stock opened at $264.63 on Wednesday. Lowe’s Companies has a one year low of $196.23 and a one year high of $287.01. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $268.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $244.73. The company has a market capitalization of $150.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.07, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.10.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $23.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.93 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 47.55% and a net margin of 8.19%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.56 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lowe’s Companies will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is a boost from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 23rd. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio is currently 38.37%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Margrethe R. Vagell sold 5,730 shares of Lowe’s Companies 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 directly owns 13,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,586,940.30. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,334,678.06. This represents a 41.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lowe’s Companies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 10.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,010,730 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $7,045,006,000 after purchasing an additional 2,399,897 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 1,889.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,134,969 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $578,256,000 after purchasing an additional 2,027,668 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 387.7% during the 3rd quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 811,374 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $219,761,000 after buying an additional 645,017 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 36.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,840,704 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $468,884,000 after acquiring an additional 493,180 shares in the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.