Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-eight research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have assigned a hold recommendation and sixteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $274.88.

LOW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $266.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price target on Lowe’s Companies from $305.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Lowe’s Companies from $295.00 to $290.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 20th.

Insider Activity at Lowe’s Companies

In other news, EVP Joseph Michael Mcfarland sold 43,810 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.60, for a total value of $11,942,606.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 66,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,145,891.60. The trade was a 39.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LOW. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in Lowe’s Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Solstein Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 627.8% during the second quarter. Solstein Capital LLC now owns 131 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 78.5% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 116 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies in the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 128.8% in the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 135 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Lowe’s Companies Trading Down 0.9%

LOW opened at $242.73 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $238.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $238.79. Lowe’s Companies has a 1 year low of $206.38 and a 1 year high of $274.98. The stock has a market cap of $136.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.13, a PEG ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.96.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $20.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.88 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 55.86% and a net margin of 8.05%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.89 EPS. Lowe’s Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 12.250-12.250 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lowe’s Companies will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 21st will be issued a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 21st. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.80%.

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.