Norges Bank Acquires New Stake in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 7,467,400 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,842,954,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LOW. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations acquired a new stake in Lowe’s Companies in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 91.0% during the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 380 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Lowe’s Companies during the fourth quarter worth $1,259,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its position in Lowe’s Companies by 32.2% in the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 33,626 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $8,299,000 after buying an additional 8,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in Lowe’s Companies by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 34,718 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $8,568,000 after acquiring an additional 7,845 shares during the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on LOW shares. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $305.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Lowe’s Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $292.00 to $285.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $265.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $279.71.

Lowe’s Companies Price Performance

Lowe’s Companies stock opened at $231.91 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $246.76 and its 200 day moving average is $257.53. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $211.80 and a one year high of $287.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $130.95 billion, a PE ratio of 19.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.12.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The home improvement retailer reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $18.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.29 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a net margin of 8.19% and a negative return on equity of 47.55%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lowe’s Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lowe’s Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be given a $1.15 dividend. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 23rd. Lowe’s Companies’s payout ratio is 37.67%.

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.