NYSE:LOW
$25.16
(3/18 4:00PM)
+0.4%
| Open | $25.14 |
Mkt Cap | $37.0 Billion |
| High | $25.31 |
52Wk High | $25.31 |
| Low | $25.05 |
52Wk Low | $17.65 |
| Volume | 12.6 Million |
Avg Vol 10D | 11.0 Million |
Ockham's Rating/Recommendation Summary
Rating specific information requires Premium Access.
Buy Now
or
Learn More about Ockham's Features and Services.
LOW Revenue
Cash earnings is the most important factor in our analysis, but it goes without saying that if a company cannot produce sales then there is no ability to generate cash flow. By that logic we look very closely at revenue numbers as our second most important factor in valuing a company's stock. We have established reasonable Price to Sales per share ranges based on historical data of the last 10 years. For, LOW the high and low end of the Price to Sales per share ratios are 1.27x and 0.83x respectively.
Notice that LOW's current Price to Sales per share ratio is 0.78x, which is quite a bit below what we consider a normal Price to Sales ratio for this stock. Given normal conditions and a price of $24.95, LOW is 26% below where we would expect to see it. This will beneficially factor into our final analysis of LOW as it is not often that this stock sinks to these levels.
LOW Cash Earnings
As the old saying goes, "Cash is King!" We look at reported Cash Earnings, but the main emphasis of our analysis involves stripping out non-cash events such as depreciation from our cash earnings analysis. This helps us view the cash flows more clearly. Nevertheless, an analysis of Cash Earnings (both reported and otherwise) is absolutely pivotal to assessing a company's value, and currently LOW is significantly below its historical average multiple of cash earnings as calculated by Ockham. Similar to our analysis of sales per share, Ockham looks at the last 10 years of cash earnings levels for LOW to identify where the current high and low price levels have been historically in relation to profit per share. Again, we utilize a weighted average methodology which relies more heavily on recent years of data. This weighted average framework provides us with an average high Price to Cash Earnings ratio per share of 15.41 and a 10.02 low over the same period.
Now that LOW’s current price is $24.95 and its Price to Cash Earnings ratio is 10.57, we are very positive on its outlook from the cash earnings perspective. In fact, LOW is now trading a full 17% below its average historical Price to Cash Earnings ratio at these profit per share levels. When our clients ask us why LOW has great long term potential, the Cash Earnings levels to current stock is one of our primary reasons. But naturally, now we need for the overall market to recognize this disparity.
LOW Dividends
While it is not necessary to pay an attractive dividend or a dividend at all, to receive a positive rating from Ockham, we view dividends as an additionally helpful measure in determining the future potential of any company.
In LOW’s case, the estimated annual dividend is $0.36 resulting in a current dividend yield of 1.44%. Similar to our review of Sales and Cash Earnings per share, we evaluate dividend yields from LOW against the historic high and low levels over the past 10 years. The highest dividend yield from LOW over this period was 2.66% while the lowest dividend yield was 0.16% LOW has shown confidence by hiking up the dividend yield to 2.13% above the historical median.
Lowe's Companies, Incorporated News Appeared on Power Lunch
The latest news on Power Lunch in regards to LOW came through on RazorWire recently.
Premium Content - please sign up for Ockham PREMIUM to gain full access and to see what Power Lunch said about LOWE'S COMPANIES, INC.
Learn About RazorWire?Discussion Turns to LOW and Merger Talk on Street Signs
While we do not know the details relating to LOW and any possible deal, our RazorWire news analytics has noticed a mention of the stock near a conversation about M&A activity.
The latest news on LOW has created quite a stir as the stock is trading $1.21 higher in today's session. The Motley Fool CAPS crowd believes this stock will perform generally in line with the benchmark, or in other words the crowd is neutral. Ranking all stocks in terms of news coverage offers some interesting data. In the case of LOW, it is getting significantly more attention in recent news coverage than we are used to seeing. Lowe's Companies, Incorporated receives our Fairly Valued rating in our latest report because the current price does not seem out of line with the fundamentals.
“… The gape outside autos, which was up in february, but department stores, furniture stores, appliance stores and even both home depot and LOWE'S have been showing tremendous ... …”
News on LOW From the Pundits on Countdown to the Closing Bell
As always, the latest news on LOW is available to Ockham clients through RazorWire, and it was mentioned recently on Countdown to the Closing Bell.
Lowe's Companies, Incorporated receives our Fairly Valued rating in our latest report because the current price does not seem out of line with the fundamentals. The Motley Fool CAPS crowd believes this stock will perform generally in line with the benchmark, or in other words the crowd is neutral. Ranking all stocks in terms of news coverage offers some interesting data. In the case of LOW, it is getting significantly more attention in recent news coverage than we are used to seeing.
“… The prime minister slaming wall street for its country's LOWE'S and telling president obama he needs to clean up the financial industry but how to reel in out of control ... …”
RazorWire has Detected News About LOW on Street Smart With Carol Massar and Matt Miller
The latest news from business television and influential blogs is always available through Ockham's RazorWire, and this news is in relation to Lowe's Companies, Incorporated.
When looking at our entire coverage universe and ranking stocks by the attention they receive on RazorWire, it is clear that Lowe's Companies, Incorporated has been talked about more than normal recently. After factoring in the current fundamentals versus their historically normal ranges, we have established a Fairly Valued stance on LOW. Crowd sentiment is neutral from the millions of opinions submitted through Motley Fool CAPS, which suggests most investors on their platform believe Lowe's Companies, Incorporated will perform just about the same as the index.
“… We had the s&p up four days in a checking on the dow jones industrial average, cover and around LOWE'S, down about 15 points. -- hovering around the lows of down about 15 points. …”
Income Investors: A Discussion of LOW and Dividends on Fast Money
Dividends are a management decision and can be seen as a signal of strength or weakness depending on the latest news. RazorWire captured a discussion of LOW's dividends recently on Fast Money.
Crowd sentiment is neutral from the millions of opinions submitted through Motley Fool CAPS, which suggests most investors on their platform believe Lowe's Companies, Incorporated will perform just about the same as the index. When looking at our entire coverage universe and ranking stocks by the attention they receive on RazorWire, it is clear that Lowe's Companies, Incorporated has been talked about more than normal recently. After factoring in the current fundamentals versus their historically normal ranges, we have established a Fairly Valued stance on LOW.
“… I like LOWE'S and I think they both trade fair valuation. If there's a pickup we had a lot of great numbers out of some of the homebuilders recently. …”
Stay Current on LOW's News on Street Signs
The latest news from business television and influential blogs is always available through Ockham's RazorWire, and this news is in relation to Lowe's Companies, Incorporated.
Crowd sentiment is neutral from the millions of opinions submitted through Motley Fool CAPS, which suggests most investors on their platform believe Lowe's Companies, Incorporated will perform just about the same as the index. After factoring in the current fundamentals versus their historically normal ranges, we have established a Fairly Valued stance on LOW. As we analyze the results from RazorWire, one thing we do is rank each stock in terms of amount of news coverage. Recently, LOW has been less covered in the news compared to the rest of our universe of stocks.
“… A lot of these counter cyclical trends in a market that's seen eight of ten sectors down this home depot and LOWE'S both strong on the week. Check out the performance. …”
Stay Current on LOW's News on Closing Bell
The latest news from Closing Bell on LOW is available through Ockham's news analytics platform RazorWire.
When taking into account the amount of news coverage each stock normally sees as a percentage of the total, Lowe's Companies, Incorporated has actually sunk a bit in comparison to the others. Our sentiment indicator, provided through the Motley Fool CAPS survey, suggests that investors are neutral overall towards LOW and think that it will generally perform in-line with the S&P 500. The Ockham valuation currently has a Fairly Valued stance on LOW because it trades within the price range that we would expect given current market conditions and fundamentals.
“… Forget about their pretty good earnings and touch on some we've talked a lot about the kohl's and limited today but take gap, LOWE'S and abercrombie. …”
Interested in LOW? See What the Pundits Said on Fast Money
The latest news on Fast Money in regards to LOW came through on RazorWire recently.
We noticed recently that in comparison to all other stocks we analyze in the news; LOW has received less coverage from the financial media in business television and blogs. Lowe's Companies, Incorporated receives our Fairly Valued rating in our latest report because the current price does not seem out of line with the fundamentals. The Motley Fool CAPS crowd believes this stock will perform generally in line with the benchmark, or in other words the crowd is neutral.
“… When you look at the data and who really had the reaction, LOWE'S and home depot, morgan stanley had a piece out about raising earnings for 2010. …”
Income Investors: A Discussion of LOW and Dividends on InBusiness With Margaret Brennan and Francine Lacqua
For income investors, dividend news is obviously important. LOW's dividends were discussed recently on InBusiness With Margaret Brennan and Francine Lacqua.
The Ockham valuation currently has a Fairly Valued stance on LOW because it trades within the price range that we would expect given current market conditions and fundamentals. Our sentiment indicator, provided through the Motley Fool CAPS survey, suggests that investors are neutral overall towards LOW and think that it will generally perform in-line with the S&P 500. In comparison to the other stocks that we follow, Lowe's Companies, Incorporated has seen more discussion in relation to its normal ranking among the group. Be aware that the news sources we track are focusing on this stock more often these days.
“… The company is raising its dividend for the first time since 2006, and also says it will buy back shares as LOWE'S did yesterday. …”
The Amount of News Coverage on Lowe's Companies, Incorporated Places It in the Top Five Most Active Stocks
Be aware that something important has occurred for LOW and investors interested in this stock should seek out information in any way possible.
Lowe's Companies, Incorporated receives our Fairly Valued rating in our latest report because the current price does not seem out of line with the fundamentals. The Motley Fool CAPS crowd believes this stock will perform generally in line with the benchmark, or in other words the crowd is neutral. We noticed recently that in comparison to all other stocks we analyze in the news; LOW has received less coverage from the financial media in business television and blogs.
“… LOWE'S saying it saw double digit increases in sales of appliances and kitchen cabinets. So some pent-up demand. It's been three years of drought where people are now starting ... …”