Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Increases Stock Holdings in Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Key Points

• Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB increased its stake in Lowe's Companies, Inc. by 19.0% during Q1, now holding 187,746 shares valued at approximately $43.79 million.
• Multiple investors, including Pacer Advisors Inc., made substantial increases in their holdings of Lowe's stock, with Pacer Advisors raising its stake by 2,984.6% to own over 2 million shares.
• Lowe's announced a quarterly dividend payment of $1.20 per share, a rise from the previous $1.15, effective August 6th.

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its stake in shares of Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW - Free Report) by 19.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 187,746 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 29,932 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ's holdings in Lowe's Companies were worth $43,788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Phoenix Financial Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Lowe's Companies by 142.9% during the first quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 4,365 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $1,021,000 after acquiring an additional 2,568 shares during the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Lowe's Companies by 14.1% during the first quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 1,567 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lowe's Companies by 63.9% during the first quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 1,362 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $318,000 after acquiring an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,971,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lowe's Companies by 1.2% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 55,456 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $12,934,000 after acquiring an additional 653 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Lowe's Companies news, EVP Juliette Williams Pryor sold 1,130 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.50, for a total value of $257,075.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 31,898 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,256,795. This represents a 3.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LOW. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $253.00 price target (down from $269.00) on shares of Lowe's Companies in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of Lowe's Companies in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Lowe's Companies from $295.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. KeyCorp raised Lowe's Companies from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $266.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on 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 assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lowe's Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $271.12.

Lowe's Companies Stock Down 1.3%

NYSE LOW opened at $225.74 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $126.51 billion, a PE ratio of 18.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.90. Lowe's Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $206.38 and a fifty-two week high of $287.01. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $223.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $232.60.

Lowe's Companies (NYSE:LOW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $2.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $20.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.09 billion. Lowe's Companies had a negative return on equity of 49.12% and a net margin of 8.22%. Lowe's Companies's quarterly revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.06 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lowe's Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lowe's Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be given a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. This is a positive change from Lowe's Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 23rd. Lowe's Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.77%.

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.

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