Banco Santander S.A. Invests $831,000 in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW)

Banco Santander S.A. bought a new position in Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 3,366 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $831,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. StoneX Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Lowe’s Companies in the third quarter worth about $2,713,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 649,601 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $175,944,000 after buying an additional 24,812 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 288.6% in the 4th quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 19,028 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,696,000 after buying an additional 14,132 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 362,209 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $98,104,000 after acquiring an additional 4,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV grew its stake in shares of Lowe’s Companies by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 19,830 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,894,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. 74.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Lowe’s Companies from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $229.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies from $305.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Lowe’s Companies in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lowe’s Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.83.

Lowe’s Companies Price Performance

Shares of Lowe’s Companies stock opened at $242.84 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.12 billion, a PE ratio of 20.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $251.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $259.25. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $211.80 and a 1-year high of $287.01.

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

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.