Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Downgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Home Depot (NYSE:HD) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning.

HD has been the subject of several other research reports. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $390.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup increased their price target on Home Depot from $333.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on Home Depot from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $375.96.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of HD opened at $332.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $367.92 and a 200 day moving average of $338.97. The company has a market capitalization of $329.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.98. Home Depot has a 12 month low of $274.26 and a 12 month high of $396.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Home Depot will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 59.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total value of $3,317,185.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $13,265,887.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Home Depot

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HD. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Home Depot by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,963 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $680,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Optas LLC increased its position in Home Depot by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. STAR Financial Bank lifted its position in shares of Home Depot by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. STAR Financial Bank now owns 3,944 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,367,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Home Depot by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in Home Depot by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. now owns 10,903 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,778,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

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.