Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Trading Up 1.2% – Still a Buy?

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)’s share price traded up 1.2% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $395.22 and last traded at $395.30. 784,319 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 3,202,602 shares. The stock had previously closed at $390.48.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased 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. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday. HSBC upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $356.00 to $410.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Home Depot from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $436.50.

Home Depot Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $401.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $398.42. 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 stock has a market cap of $387.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.52, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $2.30 per share. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 61.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HD. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in Home Depot by 10.8% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 171,005 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $69,340,000 after purchasing an additional 16,650 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its position in shares of Home Depot by 17.8% in the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,917 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $777,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. purchased a new position in Home Depot during the third quarter worth $217,000. Swedbank AB raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 132,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forbes J M & Co. LLP lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 0.3% during the third quarter. Forbes J M & Co. LLP now owns 24,331 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $9,859,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

About Home Depot

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.