Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Home Depot (NYSE:HD) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Home Depot from $420.00 to $415.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Home Depot in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a buy rating and a $415.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on Home Depot from $333.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $375.96.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of HD opened at $335.09 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $364.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $340.97. Home Depot has a 12-month low of $274.26 and a 12-month high of $396.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $332.08 billion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Home Depot will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s payout ratio is presently 59.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Home Depot

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HD. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,765,587 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,117,016,000 after buying an additional 992,444 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,217,777 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,540,197,000 after buying an additional 347,614 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,311,070,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,347,396 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,730,889,000 after buying an additional 153,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,802,085 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,050,363,000 after buying an additional 195,670 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.