Phocas Financial Corp. Buys 70 Shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Phocas Financial Corp. boosted its holdings in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW – Get Rating) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,230 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Phocas Financial Corp.’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pershing Square Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 1.6% during the third quarter. Pershing Square Capital Management L.P. now owns 10,374,801 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,948,491,000 after purchasing an additional 167,495 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 13.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,916,354 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,486,770,000 after purchasing an additional 912,518 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 4.9% during the third quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 3,463,854 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $650,546,000 after purchasing an additional 160,651 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd lifted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 5.9% during the second quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 3,360,638 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $587,003,000 after purchasing an additional 185,773 shares during the period. Finally, London Co. of Virginia lifted its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 2.9% during the third quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 2,071,408 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $389,031,000 after purchasing an additional 58,983 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on LOW. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $215.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Credit Suisse Group started coverage on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a report on Monday, December 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Barclays started coverage on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a report on Tuesday, February 7th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $215.00 price objective for the company. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $210.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday, December 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a report on Tuesday, December 6th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $237.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $224.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Donald Frieson sold 9,411 shares of Lowe’s Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.00, for a total transaction of $1,853,967.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,523,936. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Performance

LOW opened at $197.36 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $205.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $201.06. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $170.12 and a 52 week high of $238.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.50 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.10.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 1st. The home improvement retailer reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.07. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 6.63% and a negative return on equity of 82.30%. The firm had revenue of $22.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 13.83 EPS for the current year.

Lowe’s Companies Company Profile

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Lowe’s Cos., Inc engages in the retail sale of home improvement products. The firm offers products for maintenance, repair, remodeling, home decorating and property maintenance. It also provides home improvement products in the following categories: appliances, bathroom, building supply, electrical, flooring, hardware, paint, kitchen, plumbing, lighting & fans, outdoor living, windows and doors.