Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires 39,616 Shares of Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW - Free Report) by 11.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 397,390 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after buying an additional 39,616 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned about 0.07% of Lowe's Companies worth $98,076,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Lowe's Companies by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 19,830 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $4,894,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lowe's Companies by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 106,305 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $26,236,000 after purchasing an additional 13,092 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors boosted its stake in Lowe's Companies by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 26,329 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $6,498,000 after purchasing an additional 2,615 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Lowe's Companies by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 472,838 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $116,696,000 after buying an additional 7,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Lowe's Companies by 16.3% during 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 buying an additional 993,833 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LOW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $264.00 price objective on shares of Lowe's Companies and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Lowe's Companies from $285.00 to $260.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on 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. KeyCorp raised Lowe's Companies from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $266.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their target price on 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $271.12.

Lowe's Companies Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of LOW traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $225.57. The company had a trading volume of 4,127,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,513,115. Lowe's Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $206.39 and a 52-week high of $287.01. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $224.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $242.76. The firm has a market cap of $126.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.00.

Lowe's Companies (NYSE:LOW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $2.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $20.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $21.09 billion. Lowe's Companies had a negative return on equity of 47.55% and a net margin of 8.19%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.06 EPS. On average, research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 23rd will be paid a $1.20 dividend. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. This is an increase from Lowe's Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. Lowe's Companies's payout ratio is presently 39.77%.

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.