First County Bank CT Cuts Stake in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

First County Bank CT lessened its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,225 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 428 shares during the quarter. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Lowe’s Companies by 1,889.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,134,969 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $578,256,000 after purchasing an additional 2,027,668 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 20,275.6% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,205,014 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,657,000 after buying an additional 1,199,100 shares during the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 387.7% during the 3rd quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 811,374 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $219,761,000 after buying an additional 645,017 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 36.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,840,704 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $468,884,000 after acquiring an additional 493,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Lowe’s Companies by 170.5% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 735,633 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $162,178,000 after acquiring an additional 463,645 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LOW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $272.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. TD Cowen raised their price target on Lowe’s Companies from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $290.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer raised shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $230.00 to $305.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $306.00 to $301.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.92.

Lowe’s Companies Price Performance

Lowe’s Companies stock opened at $265.50 on Friday. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $196.23 and a 1-year high of $287.01. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $268.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $244.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.14, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.10.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $23.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.93 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 47.55% and a net margin of 8.19%. The company’s revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.56 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were given a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 23rd. This is a positive change from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lowe’s Companies

In other Lowe’s Companies news, CAO Dan Clayton Griggs, Jr. sold 6,769 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.82, for a total value of $1,684,262.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,334,678.06. The trade was a 41.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Margrethe R. Vagell sold 5,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.45, for a total transaction of $1,555,408.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,214 shares in the company, valued at $3,586,940.30. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.