Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) Announces $1.15 Quarterly Dividend

Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 15th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 22nd will be given a dividend of 1.15 per share by the home improvement retailer on Monday, February 5th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%.

Lowe’s Companies has increased its dividend by an average of 24.1% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 53 consecutive years. Lowe’s Companies has a dividend payout ratio of 36.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Lowe’s Companies to earn $12.63 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 36.4%.

Lowe’s Companies Price Performance

NYSE:LOW opened at $269.40 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.34, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.10. Lowe’s Companies has a one year low of $196.23 and a one year high of $287.01. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $267.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $243.51.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $23.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.93 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 47.07% and a net margin of 8.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.56 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lowe’s Companies will post 11.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $272.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Gordon Haskett cut their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $245.00 to $240.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $273.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Dan Clayton Griggs, Jr. sold 6,769 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.82, for a total transaction of $1,684,262.58. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,334,678.06. This represents a 41.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Margrethe R. Vagell sold 5,730 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.45, for a total transaction of $1,555,408.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,586,940.30. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.