1,138 Shares in Lowe's Companies, Inc. $LOW Acquired by Granite Harbor Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. acquired 1,138 shares of Lowe's Companies, valued at approximately $265,000, indicating increasing interest from institutional investors.
• Lowe's Companies reported a 2.92 EPS for the recent quarter, slightly beating analyst expectations, although revenue was down 2.0% compared to the previous year.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend from $1.15 to $1.20 per share, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Granite Harbor Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,138 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock, valued at approximately $265,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lowe's Companies by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,609,378 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $12,736,545,000 after purchasing an additional 230,359 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Lowe's Companies by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,074,391 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $1,745,960,000 after buying an additional 993,833 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Lowe's Companies by 10.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,207,081 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $1,214,448,000 after buying an additional 501,154 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lowe's Companies by 6.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,111,747 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $1,192,213,000 after acquiring an additional 330,701 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lowe's Companies by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,035,630 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $1,242,793,000 after acquiring an additional 323,371 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on LOW. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Lowe's Companies from $300.00 to $255.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Lowe's Companies from $253.00 to $242.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird lowered 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 report on Thursday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Lowe's Companies from $300.00 to $263.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $305.00 price objective on shares of Lowe's Companies in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lowe's Companies currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $270.68.

Lowe's Companies Trading Down 0.5%

LOW stock opened at $251.86 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $141.15 billion, a PE ratio of 20.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $226.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $230.05. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $2.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.04. Lowe's Companies had a net margin of 8.22% and a negative return on equity of 49.12%. The firm had revenue of $20.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.06 earnings per share. Lowe's Companies's revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Lowe's Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lowe's Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd were given a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. This is a boost from Lowe's Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 23rd. Lowe's Companies's dividend payout ratio is 39.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Juliette Williams Pryor sold 1,130 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.50, for a total value of $257,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 31,898 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,256,795. This represents a 3.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company 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.

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