Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Shares Up 0.6% – Time to Buy?

Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) traded up 0.6% on Friday . The company traded as high as $395.99 and last traded at $392.80. 641,552 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 3,190,984 shares. The stock had previously closed at $390.27.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on HD. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Home Depot from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $467.00 to $437.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $436.50.

Home Depot Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $401.36 and a 200-day moving average of $399.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $394.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.95, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.05.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.09. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The firm had revenue of $39.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict 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 paid a $2.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 61.66%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Home Depot by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,763,752 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $37,251,142,000 after purchasing an additional 875,836 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,957,463 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $8,525,046,000 after purchasing an additional 257,036 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,032,910,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Home Depot by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 12,455,582 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,845,098,000 after buying an additional 647,552 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Home Depot by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,149,890 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,726,186,000 after buying an additional 1,424,857 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.