Lincoln National Corp Sells 350 Shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Lincoln National Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,959 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 350 shares during the quarter. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $2,439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LOW. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC now owns 215,442 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $47,947,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the period. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co acquired a new stake in Lowe’s Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,890,000. Syon Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 7,129 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,345 shares during the last quarter. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Biondo Investment Advisors LLC now owns 60,958 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $12,669,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the period. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,724 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $829,000 after buying an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Lowe’s Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Gordon Haskett reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Lowe’s Companies from $238.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $252.67.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of LOW stock traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $231.45. 1,912,237 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,453,542. The company has a market cap of $132.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.15. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $240.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $221.40. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $181.85 and a 1-year high of $262.49.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The home improvement retailer reported $1.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $18.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.47 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 8.94% and a negative return on equity of 51.42%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.28 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 12.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.43%.

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.