Foster & Motley Inc. Sells 2,640 Shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. $LOW

Foster & Motley Inc. reduced its stake in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,571 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 2,640 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $6,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LOW. Strategic Planning Group LLC grew its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Planning Group LLC now owns 19,461 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,891,000 after buying an additional 5,294 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 5.7% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 72,340 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $18,184,000 after acquiring an additional 3,880 shares during the period. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp grew its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 2.9% in the third quarter. Noesis Capital Mangement Corp now owns 66,836 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $16,797,000 after purchasing an additional 1,870 shares during the last quarter. Clean Yield Group increased its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 12.4% during the third quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 1,419 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 57,780 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $14,521,000 after purchasing an additional 7,851 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on LOW. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $266.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Barclays raised shares of Lowe’s Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $285.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday. HSBC lowered their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $285.00 to $263.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Lowe’s Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.52.

Lowe’s Companies Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE LOW opened at $247.16 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $240.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $242.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a P/E/G ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.96. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $206.38 and a 1 year high of $274.98.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 26th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $20.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.88 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 8.05% and a negative return on equity of 55.86%. The company’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 21st will be paid a $1.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 21st. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.80%.

Lowe’s Companies Profile

Lowe’s Companies, Inc is a leading home improvement retailer that operates large-format stores and digital channels serving both do-it-yourself homeowners and professional contractors. The company offers a broad assortment of products including building materials, lumber, appliances, tools and hardware, plumbing and electrical supplies, paint, flooring, kitchen and bath fixtures, outdoor and garden products, and home decor. Lowe’s also provides a range of services such as installation, home improvement financing, tool and equipment rental, and contractor-focused sales programs.

Operations are centered on a nationwide brick-and-mortar store network supported by distribution centers and an e-commerce platform that enables online ordering, delivery and in-store pickup.