Fifth Third Bancorp Trims Stock Position in Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Fifth Third Bancorp cut its stake in Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW - Free Report) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 305,356 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after selling 9,715 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp owned about 0.05% of Lowe's Companies worth $71,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Lowe's Companies by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 3,412 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $796,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Chris Bulman Inc increased its position in shares of Lowe's Companies by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. Chris Bulman Inc now owns 1,712 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Lowe's Companies by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 13,454 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $3,138,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc increased its position in shares of Lowe's Companies by 209.6% during the 1st quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 3,650 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bard Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Lowe's Companies by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 9,500 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $2,216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095 shares during the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lowe's Companies

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on LOW. Truist Financial set a $264.00 target price on Lowe's Companies and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Lowe's Companies from $285.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Lowe's Companies from $270.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Lowe's Companies from $295.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Lowe's Companies from $244.00 to $242.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $271.12.

Lowe's Companies Stock Up 0.8%

LOW stock traded up $1.75 on Thursday, reaching $223.35. 2,485,859 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,522,683. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $223.50 and a 200-day moving average of $240.87. Lowe's Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $206.39 and a twelve month high of $287.01. The firm has a market cap of $125.17 billion, a PE ratio of 18.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Lowe's Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be issued a $1.20 dividend. This is a positive change from Lowe's Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 23rd. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. Lowe's Companies's dividend payout ratio is 39.77%.

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.