NBC Securities Inc. Has $3.74 Million Stock Holdings in Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW - Free Report) by 100,043.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,023 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 16,007 shares during the quarter. NBC Securities Inc.'s holdings in Lowe's Companies were worth $3,737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in Lowe's Companies by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,270,496 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $6,483,558,000 after purchasing an additional 259,766 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Lowe's Companies by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,979,337 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $2,952,341,000 after buying an additional 245,876 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Lowe's Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,842,954,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 993,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lowe's Companies by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,035,630 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $1,242,793,000 after purchasing an additional 323,371 shares in the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LOW. KeyCorp raised shares of Lowe's Companies from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $266.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Lowe's Companies from $300.00 to $263.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Lowe's Companies to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Lowe's Companies from $270.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Lowe's Companies from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $271.12.

Lowe's Companies Price Performance

Shares of LOW traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $229.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 510,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,510,686. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $224.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $242.26. Lowe's Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $206.39 and a fifty-two week high of $287.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.10, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.00.

Lowe's Companies (NYSE:LOW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $2.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $20.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.09 billion. Lowe's Companies had a net margin of 8.19% and a negative return on equity of 47.55%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.06 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lowe's Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lowe's Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be given a $1.20 dividend. This is an increase from Lowe's Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 23rd. Lowe's Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.77%.

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.