The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Boosts Position in Lowe's Companies, Inc. $LOW

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Lowe's Companies, Inc. by 3.1%, owning approximately 0.24% of the company's stock valued at $317.45 million.
• Institutional investors own 74.06% of Lowe's stock, with significant stakes added by prominent firms like Vanguard Group and Invesco Ltd.
• Despite a slight miss in revenue estimates, Lowe's reported an earnings per share of $4.33, exceeding analysts' expectations, and increased its quarterly dividend to $1.20 per share.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW - Free Report) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,361,101 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after buying an additional 41,419 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.24% of Lowe's Companies worth $317,450,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LOW. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Lowe's Companies during the 1st quarter worth $681,215,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Lowe's Companies by 2,984.6% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,038,069 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $475,339,000 after buying an additional 1,971,996 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in 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 buying an additional 1,651,170 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Lowe's Companies by 1,048.5% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 739,727 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $172,527,000 after purchasing an additional 675,318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Lowe's Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $159,029,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.06% of the company's stock.

Lowe's Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:LOW traded up $1.00 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $258.54. 2,177,553 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,159,270. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $234.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $230.18. Lowe's Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $206.38 and a 1 year high of $287.01. The company has a market cap of $144.99 billion, a PE ratio of 21.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.87.

Lowe's Companies (NYSE:LOW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $23.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.99 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.10 EPS. The firm'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, research analysts expect that Lowe's Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lowe's Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.012 per share. This represents a $0.05 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.0%. Lowe's Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.44%.

Insider Activity

In other Lowe's Companies news, EVP Juliette Williams Pryor sold 929 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.20, for a total transaction of $238,938.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,099 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,741,462.80. This trade represents a 2.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Marvin R. Ellison sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.10, for a total transaction of $10,564,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 249,043 shares in the company, valued at $65,772,256.30. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,059 shares of company stock worth $11,060,014 over the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on LOW shares. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Lowe's Companies from $240.00 to $266.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Lowe's Companies from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Lowe's Companies from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Lowe's Companies from $269.00 to $294.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Lowe's Companies from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $284.13.

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.