Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Grows Holdings in Lowe's Companies, Inc. $LOW

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Lowe's Companies by 6.4%, acquiring 225,964 shares to hold a total of 3,779,120 shares valued at approximately $881 million.
• Several analysts have upgraded Lowe's stock, with target prices reaching as high as $300, indicating a strong "Moderate Buy" consensus among research analysts.
• Lowe's Companies recently announced a quarterly dividend increase from $1.15 to $1.20, reflecting a higher annualized payout of $4.80 and a yield of 1.9%.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW - Free Report) by 6.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,779,120 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 225,964 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.68% of Lowe's Companies worth $881,406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Martingale Asset Management L P grew its holdings in Lowe's Companies by 54.7% during the 1st quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 26,897 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $6,273,000 after acquiring an additional 9,511 shares during the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC grew its holdings in Lowe's Companies by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $5,387,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Lowe's Companies by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 33,258 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $7,757,000 after acquiring an additional 1,744 shares during the last quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Lowe's Companies by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,786 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $650,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Humankind Investments LLC increased its position in Lowe's Companies by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. Humankind Investments LLC now owns 1,495 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. 74.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Marvin R. Ellison sold 40,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 249,043 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,772,256.30. This trade represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Juliette Williams Pryor sold 1,130 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.50, for a total transaction of $257,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 31,898 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,256,795. The trade was a 3.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $280.00 target price on shares of Lowe's Companies in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Lowe's Companies from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Lowe's Companies from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Lowe's Companies from $285.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Lowe's Companies from $266.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Sixteen 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lowe's Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $284.33.

Lowe's Companies Stock Performance

Lowe's Companies stock traded up $7.9280 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $263.5780. The stock had a trading volume of 3,795,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,263,003. Lowe's Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $206.38 and a fifty-two week high of $287.01. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $230.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.72 billion, a PE ratio of 21.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.89.

Lowe's Companies (NYSE:LOW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.09. Lowe's Companies had a negative return on equity of 52.02% and a net margin of 8.20%.The firm had revenue of $23.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.10 earnings per share. The company'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 forecast that Lowe's Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lowe's Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 23rd were given a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 23rd. This is a positive change from Lowe's Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. Lowe's Companies's payout ratio is 39.44%.

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.