National Bank of Canada FI Has $54.63 Million Stake in Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Key Points

• National Bank of Canada FI acquired an additional 79,588 shares of Lowe's Companies, increasing its stake by 51.5% to a total of 234,227 shares, valued at approximately $54.6 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have entered positions in Lowe's Companies, with around 74.06% of the stock now owned by institutional investors.
• Equity analysts have varying target prices for Lowe's stock, with the average target price set at $270.68 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW - Free Report) by 51.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 234,227 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after buying an additional 79,588 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI's holdings in Lowe's Companies were worth $54,626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Lowe's Companies by 2,984.6% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,038,069 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $475,339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,971,996 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 1,846,315 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Lowe's Companies by 26,796.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,657,332 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $386,540,000 after buying an additional 1,651,170 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Lowe's Companies by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,074,391 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $1,745,960,000 after acquiring an additional 993,833 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Lowe's Companies by 1,048.5% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 739,727 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $172,527,000 after acquiring an additional 675,318 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on LOW. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Lowe's Companies from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $305.00 target price on shares of Lowe's Companies in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Lowe's Companies from $285.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Lowe's Companies from $295.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $270.68.

Lowe's Companies Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of LOW stock traded down $1.11 on Monday, hitting $240.04. The stock had a trading volume of 2,602,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,697,837. The firm has a market cap of $134.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.89, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.89. Lowe's Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $206.38 and a twelve month high of $287.01. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $224.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $230.41.

Lowe's Companies (NYSE:LOW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $2.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.04. Lowe's Companies had a negative return on equity of 49.12% and a net margin of 8.22%. The business had revenue of $20.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.06 EPS. Lowe's Companies's revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Lowe's Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Lowe's Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 23rd were paid a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 23rd. This is a boost from Lowe's Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. Lowe's Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Juliette Williams Pryor sold 1,130 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

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.