Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Purchases Shares of 26,284 Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased 26,284 shares of Lowe's Companies, valued at approximately $6.1 million, indicating growing institutional interest in the home improvement retailer.
• Lowe's Companies announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $1.15 to $1.20 per share, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders with a resulting yield of 2.09%.
• Analysts have mixed views on Lowe's stock, with Guggenheim maintaining a "buy" rating and a price target of $300, while DA Davidson downgraded their target to $240 and issued a "neutral" rating.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 26,284 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock, valued at approximately $6,131,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Lowe's Companies by 2,984.6% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,038,069 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $475,339,000 after buying an additional 1,971,996 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in Lowe's Companies by 350.2% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,373,460 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $585,770,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846,315 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lowe's Companies by 26,796.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,657,332 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $386,540,000 after buying an additional 1,651,170 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Lowe's Companies by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,074,391 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $1,745,960,000 after acquiring an additional 993,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Lowe's Companies by 1,048.5% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 739,727 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $172,527,000 after acquiring an additional 675,318 shares during the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LOW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $253.00 price objective (down from $269.00) on shares of Lowe's Companies in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Lowe's Companies from $300.00 to $263.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Lowe's Companies from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Truist Financial set a $264.00 price target on shares of Lowe's Companies and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Lowe's Companies from $295.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $271.12.

Insider Activity at Lowe's Companies

In other Lowe's Companies 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 transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Lowe's Companies Trading Down 1.1%

LOW stock traded down $2.55 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $227.49. 2,047,133 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,378,462. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $222.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $232.12. Lowe's Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $206.38 and a 1 year high of $287.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.90.

Lowe's Companies (NYSE:LOW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $2.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company 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. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lowe's Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current year.

Lowe's Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be given a dividend of $1.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 23rd. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. This is a positive change from Lowe's Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. Lowe's Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.77%.

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.