BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Raises Holdings in Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in shares of Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW - Free Report) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 108,631 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after buying an additional 13,550 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in Lowe's Companies were worth $26,810,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP grew its position in Lowe's Companies by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP now owns 4,101 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Saxony Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lowe's Companies by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Saxony Capital Management LLC now owns 994 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Powers Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lowe's Companies by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,541 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Gen Wealth Partners Inc grew its holdings in shares of Lowe's Companies by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 2,163 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cordatus Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lowe's Companies by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,012 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $3,705,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.06% of the company's stock.

Lowe's Companies Stock Performance

Shares of LOW traded up $3.49 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $224.56. The company had a trading volume of 1,031,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,508,788. The company has a market capitalization of $125.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $224.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $244.06. Lowe's Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $206.39 and a 52 week high of $287.01.

Lowe's Companies (NYSE:LOW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $2.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.04. Lowe's Companies had a negative return on equity of 47.55% and a net margin of 8.19%. The business had revenue of $20.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.06 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lowe's Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lowe's Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 23rd were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 23rd. Lowe's Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on LOW. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Lowe's Companies to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Lowe's Companies from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Lowe's Companies from $300.00 to $255.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Lowe's Companies from $295.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Lowe's Companies from $305.00 to $290.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $271.12.

Lowe's Companies 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.