Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 11.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,115 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 434 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $1,048,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,880 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,086,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the period. ING Groep NV grew its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 18,786.5% during the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 106,709 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $23,748,000 after purchasing an additional 106,144 shares during the period. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC now owns 215,442 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $47,947,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 824.6% in the 4th quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 15,339 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,414,000 after buying an additional 13,680 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in Lowe’s Companies by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 45,072 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $10,031,000 after buying an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LOW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson reduced their price target 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. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $255.00 to $250.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $265.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $251.33.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Up 0.7 %

LOW traded up $1.53 on Wednesday, reaching $218.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,542,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,471,284. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $181.85 and a fifty-two week high of $262.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $225.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $228.28. The company has a market capitalization of $124.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Lowe’s Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 24th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 24th. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.34%.

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.