Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Purchases 3,336 Shares of Lowe's Companies, Inc. $LOW

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management increased its stake in Lowe's Companies, Inc. by 4.6%, owning 75,502 shares worth approximately $16.75 million as of the end of the second quarter.
• Lowe's reported earnings per share (EPS) of $4.33 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates, while revenue was $23.96 billion, slightly below the consensus estimate.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.012, reflecting a 0.0% yield, which will be paid to shareholders on November 5th.

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW - Free Report) by 4.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 75,502 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 3,336 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in Lowe's Companies were worth $16,752,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lowe's Companies by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,609,378 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $12,736,545,000 after acquiring an additional 230,359 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Lowe's Companies by 10.6% in the first 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. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Lowe's Companies by 6.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,111,747 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $1,192,213,000 after buying an additional 330,701 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Lowe's Companies by 6.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,779,120 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $881,406,000 after buying an additional 225,964 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Lowe's Companies by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,501,740 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $816,711,000 after buying an additional 42,676 shares during the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Lowe's Companies from $266.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Lowe's Companies from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Lowe's Companies in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Mizuho upped their target price on Lowe's Companies from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Lowe's Companies from $266.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lowe's Companies has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $285.08.

Lowe's Companies Price Performance

NYSE LOW traded down $1.89 on Friday, hitting $265.68. 4,079,028 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,502,386. The company's 50-day moving average price is $247.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $232.64. Lowe's Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $206.38 and a 52-week high of $287.01. The company has a market capitalization of $149.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.87.

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 the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $23.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.99 billion. Lowe's Companies had a negative return on equity of 52.02% and a net margin of 8.20%.The business's revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.10 earnings per share. Lowe's Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 12.200-12.450 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Lowe's Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lowe's Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 22nd will be issued a $0.012 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 22nd. This represents a $0.05 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.0%. Lowe's Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marvin R. Ellison sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.10, for a total value of $10,564,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 249,043 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,772,256.30. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Joseph Michael Mcfarland sold 43,810 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.60, for a total transaction of $11,942,606.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 66,566 shares in the company, valued at $18,145,891.60. The trade was a 39.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 92,931 shares of company stock valued at $24,945,752 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

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.