Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Buys 296 Shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 28,007 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $6,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Davidson Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 2,717 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $605,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. HTLF Bank bought a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,748,000. Lafayette Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 44,224 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $9,842,000 after buying an additional 978 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,918 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $872,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,775 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,730,000 after buying an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on LOW shares. Citigroup increased their price target on Lowe’s Companies from $199.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. 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 report on Thursday, January 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $252.52.

Lowe’s Companies Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of LOW stock traded up $0.99 on Friday, hitting $229.78. 1,027,096 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,531,791. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.48 billion, a PE ratio of 17.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.13. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $181.85 and a one year high of $262.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $239.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $218.46.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last issued its 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 the consensus estimate of $18.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 12.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio is currently 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.