Cambridge Trust Co. Raises Stock Holdings in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Cambridge Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 91,148 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,141 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Trust Co.’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $20,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lowe’s Companies in the fourth quarter worth $1,461,267,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Lowe’s Companies by 107,710.7% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,080,039 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,012,147,000 after buying an additional 5,075,327 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its position in Lowe’s Companies by 187,225.6% in the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 2,111,159 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $438,783,000 after buying an additional 2,110,032 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Lowe’s Companies by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,690,606 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,329,237,000 after buying an additional 2,050,089 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lowe’s Companies in the fourth quarter worth $430,090,000. 74.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on LOW shares. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Lowe’s Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $280.00 to $275.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on Lowe’s Companies from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $252.52.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:LOW traded down $0.89 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $227.97. 961,978 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,537,875. The firm has a market cap of $130.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $239.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $218.38. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $181.85 and a 52 week high of $262.49.

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

Lowe’s Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.43%.

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.