ESG Planning DBA Harper Investing Cuts Stock Holdings in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

ESG Planning DBA Harper Investing cut its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,307 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 196 shares during the quarter. ESG Planning DBA Harper Investing’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $569,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOW. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Lowe’s Companies during the fourth quarter worth $1,842,954,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $314,435,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 24,531.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,228,102 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $303,096,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223,116 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 60.1% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,603,305 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $642,730,000 after buying an additional 976,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 42,529.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 846,202 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $208,843,000 after buying an additional 844,217 shares during the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on LOW shares. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $279.71.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Performance

Lowe’s Companies stock opened at $228.20 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $245.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $257.24. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $211.80 and a fifty-two week high of $287.01. The company has a market capitalization of $127.73 billion, a PE ratio of 19.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.12.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The home improvement retailer reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.10. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 47.55% and a net margin of 8.19%. The firm had revenue of $18.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.29 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be paid a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 23rd. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio is 37.67%.

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.