Ritholtz Wealth Management Sells 1,490 Shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Ritholtz Wealth Management reduced its holdings in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 16,372 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 1,490 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $3,644,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LOW. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,461,267,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 107,710.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 5,075,327 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 187,225.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,110,032 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,690,606 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,329,237,000 after purchasing an additional 2,050,089 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 189.5% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,798,268 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $581,592,000 after purchasing an additional 1,831,727 shares during the period. 74.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Lowe’s Companies from an “average” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $265.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $244.00 to $258.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research report on Wednesday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $251.60.

Lowe’s Companies Price Performance

Lowe’s Companies stock opened at $254.73 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $232.18 and a 200-day moving average of $215.99. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $181.85 and a one year high of $262.49. The company has a market cap of $145.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.13.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The home improvement retailer reported $1.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.09. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 8.94% and a negative return on equity of 51.42%. The business had revenue of $18.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.28 EPS. Lowe’s Companies’s revenue was down 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 12.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be paid a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.43%.

Lowe’s Companies Company 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.