Accent Capital Management LLC Purchases Shares of 2,493 Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 2,493 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $555,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LOW. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 3.4% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 233,396 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $48,361,000 after purchasing an additional 7,637 shares during the period. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. boosted its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 142.7% in the third quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. now owns 2,793 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $580,000 after acquiring an additional 1,642 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 1.8% during the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 76,532 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $15,906,000 after acquiring an additional 1,370 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Lowe’s Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $26,518,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in Lowe’s Companies in the third quarter worth approximately $10,371,000. 74.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LOW. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $255.00 to $250.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $280.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $270.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $251.33.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Lowe’s Companies stock traded up $3.47 on Monday, hitting $226.82. 1,700,795 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,443,513. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $181.85 and a 12-month high of $262.49. The company has a market cap of $129.25 billion, a PE ratio of 18.22, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $226.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $227.47.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 21st. The home improvement retailer reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $21.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.14 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 8.46%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.67 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 12.23 EPS for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 24th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 24th. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.34%.

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.