Advisors Capital Management LLC Has $577,000 Position in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (LOW)

Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 0.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,440 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $577,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. IFM Investors Pty Ltd purchased a new position in Lowe’s Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $811,000. Forbes J M & Co. LLP boosted its position in Lowe’s Companies by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Forbes J M & Co. LLP now owns 75,684 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $5,382,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. LeJeune Puetz Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in Lowe’s Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $571,000. Archford Capital Strategies LLC boosted its position in Lowe’s Companies by 219.6% in the fourth quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 3,432 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $243,000 after buying an additional 2,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance purchased a new position in Lowe’s Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $1,415,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.54% of the company’s stock.

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE LOW) opened at 72.56 on Friday. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.87 and a 52 week high of $86.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $77.85 and a 200 day moving average of $78.90. The company has a market cap of $61.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.75 and a beta of 1.08.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 24th. The home improvement retailer reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.03. Lowe’s Companies had a return on equity of 56.78% and a net margin of 4.22%. The firm had revenue of $16.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post $4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 26th will be given a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 24th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. This is an increase from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio is presently 44.03%.

A number of research firms have issued reports on LOW. Vetr cut shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $83.11 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $89.00 price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Credit Suisse Group set a $94.00 price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Group LLC boosted their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $80.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Lowe’s Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.39.

In other news, insider Richard D. Maltsbarger sold 11,672 shares of Lowe’s Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.20, for a total value of $936,094.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,024,823.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lowe’s Companies Company Profile

Lowe’s Companies, Inc (Lowe’s) is a home improvement retailer. The Company operates approximately 1,860 home improvement and hardware stores, representing approximately 200 million square feet of retail selling space. The Company operates approximately 1,800 stores located across over 50 states in the United States, including approximately 80 Orchard Supply Hardware (Orchard) stores in California and Oregon, as well as approximately 40 stores in Canada and over 10 stores in Mexico.

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