Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 100,495 Shares of Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky reduced its position in Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW - Free Report) by 70.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,002 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after selling 100,495 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Lowe's Companies were worth $10,366,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Lowe's Companies by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 26,270,496 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $6,483,558,000 after purchasing an additional 259,766 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Lowe's Companies by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,979,337 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $2,952,341,000 after buying an additional 245,876 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Lowe's Companies in the fourth quarter worth $1,842,954,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Lowe's Companies by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,186,720 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $1,033,283,000 after acquiring an additional 385,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lowe's Companies by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,459,064 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $853,697,000 after acquiring an additional 90,012 shares during the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LOW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Lowe's Companies from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Lowe's Companies in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Lowe's Companies from $295.00 to $258.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com raised Lowe's Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lowe's Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $278.74.

Lowe's Companies Stock Up 2.1 %

LOW traded up $4.55 during trading on Thursday, reaching $222.31. The stock had a trading volume of 2,242,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,477,659. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.07. Lowe's Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $206.39 and a 1-year high of $287.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $229.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $251.33.

Lowe's Companies (NYSE:LOW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The home improvement retailer reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.10. Lowe's Companies had a negative return on equity of 47.55% and a net margin of 8.19%. The company had revenue of $18.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.29 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Lowe's Companies, Inc. will post 11.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lowe's Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 23rd. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Lowe's Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.