PDS Planning Inc Decreases Holdings in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

PDS Planning Inc lessened its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,170 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 204 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $928,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LOW. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Lowe’s Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Lowe’s Companies during the third quarter worth about $26,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Lowe’s Companies by 85.4% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 152 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Lowe’s Companies from an “average” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $190.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $238.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $252.52.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LOW traded up $0.99 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $231.23. The stock had a trading volume of 1,872,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,537,865. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $239.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $218.89. The firm has a market cap of $132.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.13. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $181.85 and a 1 year high of $262.49.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The home improvement retailer reported $1.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.09. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 8.94% and a negative return on equity of 51.42%. The business had revenue of $18.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.28 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 12.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio is 33.43%.

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.