Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) Shares Sold by Cornerstone Capital Inc.

Cornerstone Capital Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 20.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 978 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 250 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Capital Inc.’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOW. Markel Group Inc. grew its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 656,980 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $146,211,000 after purchasing an additional 11,500 shares during the last quarter. Callan Capital LLC grew its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 1,448 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc grew its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 21,280 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,736,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 27,433 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $6,105,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Evolution Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in Lowe’s Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $90,000. 74.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on LOW shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Lowe’s Companies from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Lowe’s Companies from $238.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. UBS Group upped their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays upped their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $203.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $199.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $252.52.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Lowe’s Companies stock opened at $229.87 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.47, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.13. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $181.85 and a fifty-two week high of $262.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $239.98 and a 200 day moving average of $219.82.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The home improvement retailer reported $1.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.09. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 51.42% and a net margin of 8.94%. The business had revenue of $18.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.28 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 12.21 EPS for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.43%.

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.