Kensington Investment Counsel LLC Buys 623 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Kensington Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,731 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 623 shares during the period. Home Depot makes up 2.2% of Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $5,341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc lifted its position in Home Depot by 65.2% during the 4th quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 9,100 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,535,000 after purchasing an additional 3,590 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Home Depot by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 23,758 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $9,242,000 after purchasing an additional 3,873 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its position in Home Depot by 51.4% during the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,357,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 909,530 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $368,542,000 after acquiring an additional 132,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,569 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KGI Securities raised Home Depot to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. HSBC raised Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $356.00 to $410.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Home Depot from $467.00 to $437.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Home Depot currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $436.50.

Home Depot Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE HD opened at $354.06 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $351.71 billion, a PE ratio of 24.05, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $323.77 and a 12 month high of $439.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $396.73 and a 200-day moving average of $399.54.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $39.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.15 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.82 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $2.30 dividend. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.66%.

Home Depot Company Profile

The Home Depot, Inc operates as a home improvement retailer in the United States and internationally. It sells various building materials, home improvement products, lawn and garden products, and décor products, as well as facilities maintenance, repair, and operations products. The company also offers installation services for flooring, water heaters, bath, garage doors, cabinets, cabinet makeovers, countertops, sheds, furnaces and central air systems, and windows.