Rhumbline Advisers Reduces Stake in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Rhumbline Advisers lowered its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,123,887 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 47,319 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $247,772,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LOW. Tidemark LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in Lowe’s Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in Lowe’s Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its position in Lowe’s Companies by 93.3% during the second quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 145 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LOW. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $243.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $270.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $290.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $254.04.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Performance

LOW stock opened at $248.50 on Tuesday. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $181.85 and a fifty-two week high of $262.49. The company has a market capitalization of $141.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $234.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.69.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $23.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.93 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 47.07% and a net margin of 8.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 23rd will be paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. This is a positive change from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.95%.

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.