Rhumbline Advisers Sells 30,457 Shares of Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Rhumbline Advisers reduced its stake in shares of Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,098,655 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after selling 30,457 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.20% of Lowe's Companies worth $256,239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $6,483,558,000 after purchasing an additional 259,766 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Lowe's Companies by 2.1% in the 4th 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 during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Lowe's Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,842,954,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Lowe's Companies by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,074,391 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $1,745,960,000 after buying an additional 993,833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Lowe's Companies by 6.9% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 323,371 shares during the period. 74.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of Lowe's Companies in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. 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. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Lowe's Companies to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Lowe's Companies from $296.00 to $269.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $271.12.

Lowe's Companies Price Performance

NYSE:LOW traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $229.15. 488,677 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,510,570. Lowe's Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $206.39 and a 52-week high of $287.01. The firm has a market cap of $128.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.11, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $224.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $242.26.

Lowe's Companies (NYSE:LOW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $2.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $20.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.09 billion. Lowe's Companies had a negative return on equity of 47.55% and a net margin of 8.19%. Lowe's Companies's quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.06 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Lowe's Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lowe's Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be paid a $1.20 dividend. This is a boost from Lowe's Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 23rd. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Lowe's Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.