Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires 13,424 Shares of Lowe's Companies, Inc. $LOW

Key Points

• Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in Lowe's Companies by 4.5%, acquiring 13,424 additional shares, resulting in a total of 311,406 shares valued at approximately $69,092,000.
• Several institutional investors have significantly raised their positions in Lowe's, with Nuveen LLC investing around $681 million and Pacer Advisors Inc. increasing their stake by nearly 2984.6% in the first quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have raised target prices for Lowe's shares, with KeyCorp and Wells Fargo both setting target prices at $300, indicating confidence in the stock's performance.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW - Free Report) by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 311,406 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 13,424 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. owned about 0.06% of Lowe's Companies worth $69,092,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LOW. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Lowe's Companies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $681,215,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lowe's Companies by 2,984.6% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,038,069 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $475,339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,971,996 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Lowe's Companies by 49.0% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,881,196 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $438,751,000 after acquiring an additional 618,775 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Lowe's Companies by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,207,081 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $1,214,448,000 after acquiring an additional 501,154 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Lowe's Companies by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,111,747 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $1,192,213,000 after acquiring an additional 330,701 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on LOW. KeyCorp raised their target price 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. 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 research note on Thursday, August 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Lowe's Companies from $266.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Lowe's Companies from $275.00 to $250.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Lowe's Companies in a research note on Wednesday. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $283.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Juliette Williams Pryor sold 929 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.20, for a total value of $238,938.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,099 shares in the company, valued at $7,741,462.80. This trade represents a 2.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joseph Michael Mcfarland sold 43,810 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.60, for a total value of $11,942,606.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 66,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,145,891.60. This represents a 39.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 92,931 shares of company stock valued at $24,945,752 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Lowe's Companies Stock Performance

LOW stock opened at $232.28 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $254.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $234.40. Lowe's Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $206.38 and a fifty-two week high of $287.01. The firm has a market cap of $130.27 billion, a PE ratio of 19.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.88.

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

Lowe's Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 22nd will be given a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 22nd. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Lowe's Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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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