Lowe’s Cos. (NYSE:LOW)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by research analysts at Argus in a research note issued to investors on Thursday. They presently have a $90.00 target price on the home improvement retailer’s stock. Argus’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 17.75% from the stock’s previous close.
In related news, insider Richard D. Maltsbarger sold 12,656 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.24, for a total value of $1,015,517.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,791,790.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert F. Hull, Jr. sold 134,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.75, for a total value of $10,686,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 262,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,922,651.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.
A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on LOW. Deutsche Bank AG reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Lowe’s Cos. in a report on Wednesday, April 27th. Zacks Investment Research downgraded Lowe’s Cos. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 3rd. Jefferies Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $81.00 price target (up from $74.00) on shares of Lowe’s Cos. in a report on Friday, May 13th. Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target (up from $77.00) on shares of Lowe’s Cos. in a report on Monday, May 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $89.00 price target (up from $88.00) on shares of Lowe’s Cos. in a report on Tuesday, May 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.15.
Other hedge funds and institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Aberdeen Asset Management PLC UK raised its position in shares of Lowe’s Cos. by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Asset Management PLC UK now owns 684,764 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $50,276,000 after buying an additional 29,593 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management CO. LTD. raised its position in shares of Lowe’s Cos. by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management CO. LTD. now owns 135,132 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $10,275,000 after buying an additional 3,688 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Lowe’s Cos. by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 154,983 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $11,785,000 after buying an additional 3,695 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of Lowe’s Cos. by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 31,553 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,400,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Lowe’s Cos. by 879.3% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 112,480 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $8,553,000 after buying an additional 100,994 shares during the last quarter.
Lowe’s Cos. (NYSE:LOW) traded down 0.59% on Thursday, hitting $76.43. The stock had a trading volume of 7,807,043 shares. Lowe’s Cos. has a one year low of $62.62 and a one year high of $83.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $81.07 and a 200-day moving average of $76.16. The company has a market cap of $67.72 billion and a PE ratio of 25.45.
Lowe’s Cos. (NYSE:LOW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 17th. The home improvement retailer reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.04. The firm earned $18.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.42 billion. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Lowe’s Cos. will post $4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 20th were paid a $0.35 dividend. This is a positive change from Lowe’s Cos.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 18th.
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 serves homeowners, renters and professional customers (Pro customers). The Company’s retail customers, consists of individual homeowners and renters, a range of projects.