Chatham Capital Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,469 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.
A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Washington Trust Bank increased its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 27.4% in the first quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 1,238 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in Lowe’s Companies during the first quarter worth approximately $109,000. Hanson McClain Inc. increased its position in Lowe’s Companies by 3.5% in the first quarter. Hanson McClain Inc. now owns 1,337 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. First Bank & Trust increased its position in Lowe’s Companies by 11.5% in the first quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 1,421 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new position in Lowe’s Companies during the first quarter worth approximately $119,000. 74.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE LOW) opened at 77.21 on Wednesday. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $64.87 and a 52-week high of $86.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $77.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.20. The company has a market capitalization of $65.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.21 and a beta of 1.08. Lowe’s Companies also saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors purchased 6,466 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 538% compared to the typical volume of 1,014 put options.
Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 24th. The home improvement retailer reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.03. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 56.78%. The business had revenue of $16.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.87 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post $4.62 earnings per share for the current year.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 26th will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. This is a positive change from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 24th. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio is presently 51.57%.
A number of brokerages have issued reports on LOW. Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. set a $100.00 target price on Lowe’s Companies and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 24th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 target price (down from $95.00) on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Sunday, May 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. BidaskClub upgraded Lowe’s Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Vetr lowered Lowe’s Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $83.11 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, May 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Lowe’s Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.39.
In other Lowe’s Companies news, insider Richard D. Maltsbarger sold 11,672 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.20, for a total transaction of $936,094.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,024,823.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.
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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