Mizuho Securities USA LLC Decreases Stock Position in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lessened its stake in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 16.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 36,951 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 7,163 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $10,008,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LOW. Crew Capital Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Crew Capital Management Ltd. now owns 3,873 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,049,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,375 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group lifted its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 1,599 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. lifted its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 7,460 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,021,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,894 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $418,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on LOW. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $290.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Oppenheimer raised shares of Lowe’s Companies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $230.00 to $305.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.92.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE LOW opened at $263.03 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $268.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $244.36. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $196.23 and a 52 week high of $287.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.10.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.96 by $0.14. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 8.19% and a negative return on equity of 47.55%. The firm had revenue of $23.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 23rd were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 23rd. This is an increase from Lowe’s Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio is 38.37%.

Insider Transactions at Lowe’s Companies

In related news, EVP Margrethe R. Vagell sold 5,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.45, for a total value of $1,555,408.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,586,940.30. The trade was a 30.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Dan Clayton Griggs, Jr. sold 6,769 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Lowe’s Companies 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.