Covea Finance Sells 5,515 Shares of Lowe's Companies, Inc. $LOW

Key Points

• Covea Finance has reduced its holdings in Lowe's Companies, Inc. by 4.6%, selling 5,515 shares and now owning 113,942 shares worth approximately $25.3 million.
• CEO Marvin R. Ellison sold 40,000 shares of Lowe's stock for around $10.5 million, decreasing his ownership by 13.84%.
• Analysts are optimistic, with a consensus target price of $284.88 and multiple firms upgrading their ratings, indicating a strong buying sentiment around Lowe's stock.

Covea Finance lowered its stake in shares of Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW - Free Report) by 4.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 113,942 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after selling 5,515 shares during the quarter. Covea Finance's holdings in Lowe's Companies were worth $25,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOW. Vertex Planning Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lowe's Companies by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC now owns 1,582 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $369,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lowe's Companies by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,386 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $2,189,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lowe's Companies by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 5,817 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $1,357,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lowe's Companies by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 865 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lowe's Companies by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,570 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Lowe's Companies in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Lowe's Companies from $266.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Lowe's Companies from $264.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Lowe's Companies from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Lowe's Companies from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $284.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Lowe's Companies Stock Down 1.6%

LOW stock opened at $260.86 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $146.30 billion, a PE ratio of 21.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $248.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $232.62. Lowe's Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $206.38 and a 52 week high of $287.01.

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

Lowe's Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.012 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 22nd. This represents a $0.05 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.0%. 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.

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