Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. $LOW

Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 4.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,301 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 361 shares during the period. Lowe’s Companies accounts for 1.0% of Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $2,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 4,797 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after buying an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Moment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Moment Partners LLC now owns 2,864 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $635,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. now owns 72,513 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $16,088,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 12.6% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 9,185 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,038,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,319,887 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $292,843,000 after purchasing an additional 20,490 shares during the period. 74.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lowe’s Companies

In other Lowe’s Companies news, EVP Juliette Williams Pryor sold 929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.20, for a total value of $238,938.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,099 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,741,462.80. This represents a 2.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joseph Michael Mcfarland sold 43,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 66,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,145,891.60. This represents a 39.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 92,931 shares of company stock valued at $24,945,752 over the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LOW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays set a $267.00 target price on Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lowe’s Companies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $282.91.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Lowe’s Companies stock opened at $243.06 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $136.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $254.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $235.46. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $206.38 and a one year high of $280.64.

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

Lowe’s Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 22nd will be issued 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 payout ratio is presently 39.44%.

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.