Wall Street Zen Upgrades Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) to Buy

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $269.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $264.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Lowe’s Companies from $266.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Lowe’s Companies from $243.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $285.50.

Lowe’s Companies Stock Performance

Shares of LOW stock opened at $246.24 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $253.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $234.14. The stock has a market cap of $138.10 billion, a PE ratio of 20.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.88. Lowe’s Companies has a 1 year low of $206.38 and a 1 year high of $287.01.

Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $23.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.99 billion. Lowe’s Companies had a negative return on equity of 52.02% and a net margin of 8.20%.Lowe’s Companies’s revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. 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, equities research analysts predict that Lowe’s Companies will post 11.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Brandon J. Sink sold 8,192 shares of Lowe’s Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.58, for a total value of $2,200,207.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Joseph Michael Mcfarland sold 43,810 shares of Lowe’s Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.60, for a total value of $11,942,606.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 66,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,145,891.60. This represents a 39.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 92,931 shares of company stock worth $24,945,752 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lowe’s Companies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 3.7% in the second quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,888 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,859,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in Lowe’s Companies by 1.2% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 125,299 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $29,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Lowe’s Companies by 8.1% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 16,551 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,860,000 after acquiring an additional 1,242 shares during the period. Advent Capital Management DE grew its position in Lowe’s Companies by 20.0% during the first quarter. Advent Capital Management DE now owns 18,000 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,198,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Lowe’s Companies by 12.6% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 29,361 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $6,848,000 after acquiring an additional 3,295 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

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.