Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Trading 0.9% Higher – Should You Buy?

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)’s share price shot up 0.9% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $396.14 and last traded at $396.14. 1,392,629 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 3,386,831 shares. The stock had previously closed at $392.45.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on HD. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $360.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Gordon Haskett raised Home Depot from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Home Depot from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Home Depot in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $420.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $426.00.

Home Depot Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $409.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $382.01. The company has a market capitalization of $393.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $40.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.31 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.81 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 61.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $6,553,958.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 77,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,727,562. This represents a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.91, for a total transaction of $9,030,368.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,343,399.64. The trade was a 51.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,188 shares of company stock worth $15,624,585 in the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Home Depot by 51,250.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,779,833 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $35,575,880,000 after purchasing an additional 8,762,735 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position in Home Depot by 33,540.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,478,855 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $509,081,000 after purchasing an additional 1,474,459 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the third quarter valued at $336,231,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 10.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,679,237 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,516,827,000 after buying an additional 795,438 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 79.4% during the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,172,647 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $403,672,000 after buying an additional 519,039 shares in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is 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.