Lowe's raises dividend; stock hits yearly low

Lowe's used the end of May to deliver two messages to investors: its board approved another dividend increase, and management said first-quarter results came in ahead of Wall Street estimates even as the housing backdrop remained difficult. The home-improvement retailer said on May 29 that it would raise its quarterly cash dividend to $1.25 a share. Nine days earlier, Lowe's reported adjusted first-quarter earnings of $3.03 a share on $23.08 billion in revenue, both above analyst expectations. The stock still came under pressure. Yahoo Finance reported on June 2 that Lowe's shares hit a new 52-week low as investors focused on housing-market weakness and the risk that do-it-yourself demand remains soft. Lowe's itself used similar language when it described the environment as a “challenging housing macro” in its May 20 earnings release. ### How much did Lowe's raise the dividend? Lowe's said on May 29 that the board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.25 per share, up from the prior quarterly rate. The payment is scheduled for Aug. 5, 2026, to shareholders of record as of July 22, 2026. The May 29 announcement continued a long-running capital-return policy at the company. Lowe's said in its first-quarter earnings release that it paid $674 million in dividends during the quarter ended May 1. ### What did Lowe's report in the first quarter? For the quarter ended May 1, Lowe's reported net earnings of $1.6 billion and diluted earnings per share of $2.90, compared with diluted EPS of $2.92 a year earlier. Adjusted diluted earnings per share were $3.03, the company said. Revenue reached $23.08 billion, while comparable sales rose 0.6%. CNBC, citing LSEG data, said analysts had expected adjusted earnings of $2.97 a share on revenue of $22.97 billion. ### Why did the stock fall anyway? Marvin Ellison, Lowe's chairman, president and chief executive, said on May 20 that “strong spring execution and continued momentum in Pro, Appliances, Online, and Home Services” supported the quarter. In the same statement, he said the company was operating “in spite of a challenging housing macro.” That split helps explain the market reaction reported on June 2. Yahoo Finance said investors were weighing the earnings beat and dividend increase against pressure from the housing market, a key driver of larger remodeling and discretionary home-improvement spending. ### What did Lowe's say about the rest of 2026? Lowe's affirmed its full-year 2026 outlook on May 20. The company said it still expects total sales of $92 billion to $94 billion and comparable sales ranging from flat to up 2%. The retailer also projected diluted earnings per share of about $11.75 to $12.25 for the full year. Management said growth in the quarter was supported by Pro customers, appliances, online sales and home services. ### What happened at the annual meeting? Lowe's shareholders voted at the May 29 annual meeting to elect all 12 director nominees and approve Deloitte as the company’s independent registered public accounting firm for 2026, according to the company’s 8-K filing summarized by Stock Titan. Shareholders also approved executive compensation for 2025 and rejected proposals on an independent chair, plastic packaging disclosure and customer data-sharing risk reporting. The governance votes landed the same day as the dividend increase, giving investors a second formal update from the board before June trading began. ### What comes next for shareholders? Aug. 5, 2026, is the next date that matters for income investors because that is when Lowe's plans to pay the new $1.25 quarterly dividend. Lowe's next scheduled earnings milestone is its second-quarter report, which market calendars such as MarketBeat list for Aug. 19, 2026.