Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,360,000 shares, a decline of 19.3% from the March 15th total of 9,120,000 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 4,020,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.
In other news, Director David H. Batchelder acquired 6,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $159.48 per share, with a total value of $996,750.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.07% of the company’s stock.
A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOW. FMR LLC raised its position in Lowe’s Companies by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 30,352,415 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,871,866,000 after buying an additional 2,940,777 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Lowe’s Companies during the 4th quarter worth $1,285,445,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Lowe’s Companies by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,502,725 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,043,751,000 after buying an additional 982,465 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Lowe’s Companies by 15.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,819,866 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $934,149,000 after buying an additional 783,731 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Lowe’s Companies by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,860,084 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $459,076,000 after buying an additional 37,586 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.11% of the company’s stock.
NYSE LOW opened at $208.25 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $179.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.04. The stock has a market cap of $149.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.37. Lowe’s Companies has a 12-month low of $91.49 and a 12-month high of $208.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.20.
Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 23rd. The home improvement retailer reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $20.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.54 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 6.29% and a return on equity of 211.33%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lowe’s Companies will post 8.7 earnings per share for the current year.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 20th. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.96%.
A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 29th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Gordon Haskett upgraded Lowe’s Companies from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $202.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 3rd. Atlantic Securities upgraded Lowe’s Companies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $240.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 14th. Zelman & Associates cut Lowe’s Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Monday, March 15th. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price objective on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.29.
Lowe’s Companies Company Profile
Lowe’s Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a home improvement retailer in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company offers a line of products for construction, maintenance, repair, remodeling, and decorating. It provides home improvement products in various categories, such as appliances, décor, paint, hardware, millwork, lawn and garden, lighting, lumber and building materials, flooring, kitchens and bath, rough plumbing and electrical, seasonal and outdoor living, and tools.
