Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) Shares Sold by Bison Wealth LLC

Bison Wealth LLC lowered its position in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 60.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,960 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 5,973 shares during the quarter. Bison Wealth LLC’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $977,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in Lowe’s Companies by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,270,496 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $6,483,558,000 after buying an additional 259,766 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,979,337 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,952,341,000 after acquiring an additional 245,876 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lowe’s Companies during the 4th quarter worth $1,842,954,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,074,391 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,745,960,000 after purchasing an additional 993,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Lowe’s Companies by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,186,720 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,033,283,000 after purchasing an additional 385,994 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LOW has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $305.00 price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $305.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $292.00 to $285.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.21.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE LOW opened at $223.36 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $228.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $250.06. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $206.39 and a 52-week high of $287.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.07.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The home improvement retailer reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $18.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.29 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 47.55% and a net margin of 8.19%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be given a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.67%.

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.