First Long Island Investors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

First Long Island Investors LLC lifted its holdings in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 158,309 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,078 shares during the quarter. Lowe’s Companies accounts for approximately 3.4% of First Long Island Investors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. First Long Island Investors LLC’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $42,878,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 6.8% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 40,390 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $10,940,000 after purchasing an additional 2,580 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 21,024 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $5,694,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 1.1% in the third quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,642 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,153,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Connable Office Inc. lifted its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 12,515 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,390,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Black Diamond Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 13.8% during the third quarter. Black Diamond Financial LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Lowe’s Companies

In other news, CAO Dan Clayton Griggs, Jr. sold 6,769 shares of Lowe’s Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.82, for a total transaction of $1,684,262.58. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,334,678.06. The trade was a 41.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Margrethe R. Vagell sold 5,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.45, for a total transaction of $1,555,408.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,586,940.30. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LOW. Gordon Haskett reduced their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $245.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Oppenheimer upgraded Lowe’s Companies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $230.00 to $305.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $245.00 to $238.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $306.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.84.

Lowe’s Companies Trading Down 0.6 %

Lowe’s Companies stock traded down $1.61 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $268.74. 660,573 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,432,368. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.23 and a 12 month high of $287.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $266.68 and a 200 day moving average of $243.25. The firm has a market cap of $152.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.40, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.10.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $23.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.93 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 8.25% and a negative return on equity of 47.07%. Lowe’s Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.56 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.93 EPS for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is an increase from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 23rd. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio is presently 38.14%.

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.