Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) Position Boosted by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,211,131 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 41,451 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $714,637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Lowe’s Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Lowe’s Companies during the third quarter valued at $26,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 85.4% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 152 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LOW shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $190.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $265.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Lowe’s Companies from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Gordon Haskett reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $252.67.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Performance

Shares of LOW stock traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $231.45. The company had a trading volume of 1,912,237 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,453,542. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $240.00 and its 200 day moving average is $221.68. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $181.85 and a 12 month high of $262.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.59, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.15.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The home improvement retailer reported $1.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $18.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.47 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 8.94% and a negative return on equity of 51.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.28 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 12.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be issued a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio is currently 33.43%.

Lowe’s Companies Company Profile

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.