Voya Investment Management LLC Sells 14,622 Shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. $LOW

Voya Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 842,530 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 14,622 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Lowe’s Companies were worth $196,182,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LOW. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Lowe’s Companies during the 1st quarter worth about $681,215,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 2,984.6% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,038,069 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $475,339,000 after acquiring an additional 1,971,996 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 26,796.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,657,332 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $386,540,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651,170 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Lowe’s Companies by 1,048.5% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 739,727 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $172,527,000 after acquiring an additional 675,318 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Lowe’s Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $159,029,000. Institutional investors own 74.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lowe’s Companies

In other Lowe’s Companies news, EVP Juliette Williams Pryor sold 929 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.20, for a total value of $238,938.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,741,462.80. This represents a 2.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brandon J. Sink sold 8,192 shares of the company’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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,121 shares of company stock valued at $13,003,146. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Lowe’s Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LOW opened at $272.56 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $242.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $231.63. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $206.38 and a fifty-two week high of $287.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $152.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Lowe’s Companies Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 22nd will be paid a $0.012 dividend. This represents a $0.05 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 22nd. Lowe’s Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LOW. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $253.00 to $242.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $266.00 to $279.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped 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 report on Monday, August 18th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.13.

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.