Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-six analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $271.12.

A number of brokerages recently commented on LOW. BNP Paribas upgraded Lowe's Companies to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Lowe's Companies from $244.00 to $242.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Lowe's Companies from $295.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Lowe's Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Lowe's Companies from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $266.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th.

Lowe's Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LOW traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $225.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 985,529 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,512,064. Lowe's Companies has a fifty-two week low of $206.39 and a fifty-two week high of $287.01. The company has a market capitalization of $126.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.00. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $224.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $243.93.

Lowe's Companies (NYSE:LOW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $20.93 billion during 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%. The company's revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.06 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Lowe's Companies will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lowe's Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 23rd. Lowe's Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.11%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its stake in Lowe's Companies by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 19,830 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $4,894,000 after purchasing 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 valued at $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 valued at $6,498,000 after purchasing an additional 2,615 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 7,187 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,745,960,000 after acquiring an additional 993,833 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.06% of the company's stock.

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.