Courier Capital LLC Lowers Position in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Courier Capital LLC decreased its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,435 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 433 shares during the quarter. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $5,466,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 1.0% in the first quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 47,706 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $11,126,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Single Point Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies in the first quarter valued at about $297,000. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 47.0% in the first quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,935 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,550,000 after acquiring an additional 3,496 shares in the last quarter. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 2.0% in the first quarter. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. now owns 10,845 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,529,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bennett Selby Investments LP lifted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 8.0% in the first quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 4,095 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $955,000 after buying an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on LOW. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $296.00 to $269.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $295.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $253.00 price objective (down previously from $269.00) on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. KeyCorp raised Lowe’s Companies from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $266.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Lowe’s Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lowe’s Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $271.12.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Performance

NYSE LOW opened at $225.35 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $223.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $241.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.79, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.92. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $206.39 and a fifty-two week high of $287.01.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $2.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.04. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 47.55% and a net margin of 8.19%. The firm had revenue of $20.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.09 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.06 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be issued a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. This is a boost from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 23rd. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio is presently 39.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Juliette Williams Pryor sold 1,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.50, for a total transaction of $257,075.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,898 shares in the company, valued at $7,256,795. The trade was a 3.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.