Stephens Inc. AR Buys 3,558 Shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. $LOW

Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 112,126 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,558 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $24,877,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Sentry Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 430.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 902 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 24,116 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $5,351,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 62,100 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $13,778,000 after purchasing an additional 1,672 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 33,004 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $7,323,000 after purchasing an additional 1,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,351 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,406,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LOW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $253.00 to $242.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Lowe’s Companies from $266.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Lowe’s Companies from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $282.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Marvin R. Ellison sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.10, for a total transaction of $10,564,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 249,043 shares in the company, valued at $65,772,256.30. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Joseph Michael Mcfarland sold 43,810 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.60, for a total value of $11,942,606.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 66,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,145,891.60. This trade represents a 39.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 92,931 shares of company stock valued at $24,945,752 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Lowe’s Companies Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of LOW opened at $244.81 on Monday. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $206.38 and a 1 year high of $282.70. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $255.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $234.78. The stock has a market cap of $137.30 billion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.88.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.09. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 52.02% and a net margin of 8.20%.The business had revenue of $23.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.10 EPS. Lowe’s Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Lowe’s Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 12.200-12.450 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 22nd will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 22nd. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 39.44%.

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.