First National Trust Co Purchases 521 Shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. $LOW

First National Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,913 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $2,199,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LOW. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Lowe’s Companies during the 1st quarter valued at about $681,215,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 2,984.6% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,038,069 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $475,339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,971,996 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 49.0% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,881,196 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $438,751,000 after purchasing an additional 618,775 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 10.6% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,207,081 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,214,448,000 after acquiring an additional 501,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 6.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,111,747 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,192,213,000 after acquiring an additional 330,701 shares during the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LOW. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $240.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $280.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $269.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised shares of Lowe’s Companies to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $282.59.

Lowe’s Companies Price Performance

LOW opened at $244.19 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $136.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $254.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $236.02. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $206.38 and a fifty-two week high of $280.64.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.24 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $23.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.99 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 8.20% and a negative return on equity of 52.02%. Lowe’s Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.10 earnings per share. Lowe’s Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 12.200-12.450 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 22nd will be paid a dividend of $1.20 per share. This represents a $4.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 22nd. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio is 39.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lowe’s Companies

In related news, EVP Brandon J. Sink sold 8,192 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.58, for a total transaction of $2,200,207.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 21,603 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,802,133.74. The trade was a 27.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Marvin R. Ellison sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.10, for a total transaction of $10,564,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 249,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,772,256.30. This represents a 13.84% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 92,931 shares of company stock valued at $24,945,752. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.