Vawter Financial Ltd. Acquires New Shares in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Vawter Financial Ltd. bought a new position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 518 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Home Depot by 51,250.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 8,762,735 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Home Depot by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,515,343 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,931,328,000 after acquiring an additional 100,139 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 15.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,437,805 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,853,143,000 after purchasing an additional 971,833 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 2.5% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,774,083 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,980,883,000 after purchasing an additional 138,396 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Home Depot by 7.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,643,176 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,598,316,000 after purchasing an additional 333,312 shares in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Home Depot Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Home Depot stock opened at $408.25 on Friday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $302.34 and a 1 year high of $421.56. The company has a market cap of $405.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $399.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $366.34.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.14. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The business had revenue of $40.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 27th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Home Depot in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $451.00 price objective for the company. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Home Depot to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Home Depot from $363.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on Home Depot from $430.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $426.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of Home Depot 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 in the company, valued at $8,343,399.64. The trade was a 51.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.