Lowe's is an American retail company based in Mooresville, Iredell County, North Carolina. The focus of business is on home improvement and household appliances. The company is listed in the Standard & Poorโs 100 stock index.
Lowe's was founded in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina in 1946. The company's shares have been traded on the New York Stock Exchange since 1961. Loweโs has 1,840 stores in 49 states across the United States and around 266,000 employees. The chain is also represented in Canada (33 branches) and Australia. In May 2015, the chain acquired 13 branches from Target Canada. Hardware store chain The Home Depot is Lowe's biggest competitor.
According to Lowe's Companies's latest financial reports and stock price the company's current price-to-earnings ratio (TTM) is 26.471. At the end of 2022 the company had a P/E ratio of 19.5.
The Price/Earnings ratio measures the relationship between a company's stock price and its earnings per share. A low but positive P/E ratio stands for a company that is generating high earnings compared to its current valuation and might be undervalued. A company with a high negative (near 0) P/E ratio stands for a company that is generating heavy losses compared to its current valuation.
Companies with a P/E ratio over 30 or a negative one are generaly seen as "growth stocks" meaning that investors typically expect the company to grow or to become profitable in the future. Companies with a positive P/E ratio bellow 10 are generally seen as "value stocks" meaning that the company is already very profitable and unlikely to strong growth in the future.