Federated Hermes Inc. Decreases Holdings in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 74,577 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 8,177 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $16,597,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LOW. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 1.1% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,930,693 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,271,836,000 after acquiring an additional 116,855 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 1.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,138,824 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,483,733,000 after purchasing an additional 78,901 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings 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 valued at $581,592,000 after purchasing an additional 1,831,727 shares during the period. 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. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $430,090,000. 74.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LOW. Robert W. Baird upgraded Lowe’s Companies from an “average” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $218.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $280.00 to $275.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Lowe’s Companies from $258.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $252.52.

Lowe’s Companies Price Performance

Shares of Lowe’s Companies stock opened at $231.23 on Tuesday. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $181.85 and a one year high of $262.49. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $239.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $219.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $18.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.47 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 8.94% and a negative return on equity of 51.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.28 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 12.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 24th will be given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 23rd. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio is 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.