Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 114,064 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after buying an additional 2,658 shares during the period. Lowe's Companies comprises about 1.9% of Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC's holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC's holdings in Lowe's Companies were worth $26,603,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Lowe's Companies during the fourth quarter worth $1,842,954,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $585,770,000 after acquiring an additional 1,846,315 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Lowe's Companies by 26,796.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,657,332 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $386,540,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651,170 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 993,833 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Lowe's Companies by 1,048.5% during the first 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on LOW shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Lowe's Companies from $300.00 to $255.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $266.00 target price on Lowe's Companies and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Lowe's Companies from $270.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Lowe's Companies from $244.00 to $242.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered 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. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lowe's Companies currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $271.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lowe's Companies

In related news, EVP Juliette Williams Pryor sold 1,130 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.50, for a total value of $257,075.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,898 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,256,795. This trade represents a 3.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Lowe's Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LOW opened at $224.12 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $125.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.90. Lowe's Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $206.39 and a fifty-two week high of $287.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $224.14 and a 200-day moving average of $234.13.

Lowe's Companies (NYSE:LOW - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $20.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.09 billion. Lowe's Companies had a negative return on equity of 49.12% and a net margin of 8.22%. The firm's revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.06 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lowe's Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current year.

Lowe's Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. 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 dividend yield of 2.14%. Lowe's Companies's payout ratio is presently 38.11%.

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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