Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) Shares Sold by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. decreased its stake in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 57.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,507 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 39,911 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $7,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,979,337 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,952,341,000 after acquiring an additional 245,876 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,842,954,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,186,720 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,033,283,000 after buying an additional 385,994 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,459,064 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $853,697,000 after acquiring an additional 90,012 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Lowe’s Companies by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,369,942 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $831,702,000 after purchasing an additional 66,300 shares during the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $292.00 to $285.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Bank of America cut their price target on Lowe’s Companies from $305.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $301.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.74.

Lowe’s Companies Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE LOW opened at $221.35 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $236.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $254.68. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $206.39 and a 52 week high of $287.01. The stock has a market cap of $123.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.46, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Lowe’s Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be issued a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.67%.

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.