Harbour Investments Inc. Increases Stake in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Harbour Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 2.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,646 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 207 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc.’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $2,016,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Lowe’s Companies in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lowe’s Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lowe’s Companies during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 60.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 160 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on LOW. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $270.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $244.00 to $242.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $295.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Mizuho reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $280.00 price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Friday, June 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $270.68.

Lowe’s Companies Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE LOW opened at $226.33 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.75, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $223.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $231.74. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $206.38 and a 12-month high of $287.01.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $2.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.04. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 49.12% and a net margin of 8.22%. The firm had revenue of $20.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.06 earnings per share. Lowe’s Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 23rd. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio is currently 39.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lowe’s Companies

In related news, EVP Juliette Williams Pryor sold 1,130 shares of Lowe’s Companies stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 31,898 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,256,795. The trade was a 3.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lowe’s Companies Company 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.