903 Shares in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) Acquired by ERn Financial LLC

ERn Financial LLC bought a new position in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 903 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $245,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,693,630 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $13,677,378,000 after buying an additional 2,674,372 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 1.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,205,491 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,147,603,000 after acquiring an additional 82,978 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 36.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,840,704 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $468,884,000 after acquiring an additional 493,180 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 6.0% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,617,849 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $356,671,000 after acquiring an additional 90,945 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 11.1% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,499,015 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $330,473,000 after acquiring an additional 149,649 shares in the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on LOW. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Oppenheimer raised shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $230.00 to $305.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. StockNews.com raised Lowe’s Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Dan Clayton Griggs, Jr. sold 6,769 shares of the business’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 value of $1,684,262.58. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,334,678.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Dan Clayton Griggs, Jr. sold 6,769 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.82, for a total value of $1,684,262.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,334,678.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Margrethe R. Vagell sold 5,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 13,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,586,940.30. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Lowe’s Companies Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:LOW opened at $284.05 on Thursday. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $181.85 and a 12 month high of $287.01. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $255.56 and its 200 day moving average is $238.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $161.86 billion, a PE ratio of 22.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.10.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $23.93 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 47.07% and a net margin of 8.25%. The business’s revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.56 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 23rd. This is an increase from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 36.95%.

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.