Lighthouse Financial LLC Invests $284,000 in Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Lighthouse Financial LLC purchased a new position in Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,150 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock, valued at approximately $284,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its holdings in shares of Lowe's Companies by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 19,830 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $4,894,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Lowe's Companies by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 106,305 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $26,236,000 after purchasing an additional 13,092 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors increased its stake in Lowe's Companies by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 26,329 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $6,498,000 after purchasing an additional 2,615 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its stake in Lowe's Companies by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 472,838 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $116,696,000 after purchasing an additional 7,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in 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 valued at $1,745,960,000 after purchasing an additional 993,833 shares in the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Lowe's Companies from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Lowe's Companies from $305.00 to $290.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Lowe's Companies from $244.00 to $242.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $305.00 price objective on shares of Lowe's Companies in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $271.12.

Lowe's Companies Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE:LOW traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $225.57. 4,127,230 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,513,115. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $224.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $242.76. Lowe's Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $206.39 and a one year high of $287.01. The firm has a market cap of $126.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.00.

Lowe's Companies (NYSE:LOW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $2.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $20.93 billion during 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 for the quarter was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.06 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Lowe's Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current year.

Lowe's Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be given a $1.20 dividend. This is a positive change from Lowe's Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Lowe's Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.