Goepper Burkhardt LLC Boosts Stake in Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Goepper Burkhardt LLC boosted its position in Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW - Free Report) by 103.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,445 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 1,243 shares during the quarter. Goepper Burkhardt LLC's holdings in Lowe's Companies were worth $570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOW. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Lowe's Companies during the 4th quarter worth $1,842,954,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lowe's Companies by 350.2% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,373,460 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $585,770,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846,315 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lowe's Companies by 26,796.0% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,657,332 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $386,540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651,170 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,745,960,000 after purchasing an additional 993,833 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Lowe's Companies by 1,048.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 675,318 shares during the period. 74.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lowe's Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LOW traded down $2.88 during trading on Thursday, reaching $225.74. The company had a trading volume of 2,083,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,524,902. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.90. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $223.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $232.76. Lowe's Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $206.38 and a fifty-two 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.04. The business 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 49.12% and a net margin of 8.22%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.06 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Lowe's Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lowe's Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be issued a $1.20 dividend. 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 2.13%. This is a positive change from Lowe's Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. Lowe's Companies's payout ratio is presently 39.77%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Juliette Williams Pryor sold 1,130 shares of Lowe's Companies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 31,898 shares in the company, valued at $7,256,795. The trade was a 3.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LOW. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Lowe's Companies in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lowe's Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Lowe's Companies from $285.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Mizuho restated an "outperform" rating and set a $280.00 target price on shares of Lowe's Companies in a report on Friday, June 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lowe's Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.