The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $375.96.

HD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on Home Depot from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Mizuho initiated coverage on Home Depot in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $415.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Home Depot from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Home Depot from $415.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total value of $3,317,185.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $13,265,887.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total value of $3,317,185.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Home Depot

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HD. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter worth $4,311,070,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Home Depot by 105,205.6% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,994,957 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,472,867,000 after buying an additional 10,984,516 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Home Depot by 12,647.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,569,482 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,930,104,000 after buying an additional 5,525,791 shares during the last quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC raised its stake in Home Depot by 30,994.4% in the second quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 2,413,234 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $241,323,000 after buying an additional 2,405,473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Home Depot by 29.9% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,450,798 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,928,622,000 after buying an additional 1,944,762 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Home Depot Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of HD opened at $332.89 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $367.92 and its 200 day moving average is $338.97. The company has a market capitalization of $329.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.98. Home Depot has a 12-month low of $274.26 and a 12-month high of $396.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. The company had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.30 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Home Depot will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.60%.

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.