StockNews.com Lowers Home Depot (NYSE:HD) to Hold

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

HD has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a buy rating and a $415.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird reissued an outperform rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Home Depot from $420.00 to $415.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $415.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $375.96.

Home Depot Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of HD stock traded up $7.32 on Friday, hitting $342.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,165,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,606,830. The stock has a market capitalization of $339.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.40. Home Depot has a fifty-two week low of $274.26 and a fifty-two week high of $396.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $362.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $341.76.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction 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 approximately $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $13,265,887.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Home Depot

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 53.3% in the 4th quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 92 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. 70.86% of the stock is currently 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.