Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-six ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $271.12.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on LOW shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Lowe's Companies from $300.00 to $255.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Mizuho restated an "outperform" rating and set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Lowe's Companies in a research report on Friday, June 13th. DA Davidson cut their price target on Lowe's Companies from $270.00 to $240.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Lowe's Companies from $305.00 to $290.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, 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.

Insider Transactions at Lowe's Companies

In other Lowe's Companies news, EVP Juliette Williams Pryor sold 1,130 shares of Lowe's Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.50, for a total value of $257,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 31,898 shares in the company, valued at $7,256,795. The trade was a 3.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lowe's Companies

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Lowe's Companies by 119.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 31,965 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $7,889,000 after buying an additional 17,413 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Lowe's Companies by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,078 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Lowe's Companies by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 10,936 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $2,699,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Lowe's Companies by 32.6% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 14,708 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $3,795,000 after acquiring an additional 3,616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Lowe's Companies by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 5,940 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $1,466,000 after purchasing an additional 954 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.06% of the company's stock.

Lowe's Companies Stock Performance

NYSE LOW opened at $211.91 on Wednesday. Lowe's Companies has a fifty-two week low of $206.39 and a fifty-two week high of $287.01. The stock has a market cap of $118.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $223.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $239.07.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.04. Lowe's Companies had a net margin of 8.22% and a negative return on equity of 49.12%. The firm had revenue of $20.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.06 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Lowe's Companies will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Lowe's Companies Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 23rd. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. This is a positive change from Lowe's Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. Lowe's Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.11%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.