Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Stock Price Down 0.9% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) dropped 0.9% on Wednesday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $420.00 to $415.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Home Depot traded as low as $332.96 and last traded at $334.83. Approximately 4,525,522 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 28% from the average daily volume of 3,539,049 shares. The stock had previously closed at $337.93.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on HD. Truist Financial raised their price target on Home Depot from $386.00 to $417.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $390.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Home Depot from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $311.00 to $400.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $375.96.

Insider Transactions at Home Depot

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

Institutional Trading of Home Depot

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HD. BCK Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 1st quarter worth $2,933,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Ergoteles LLC purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 1st quarter worth $1,554,000. Equitable Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 14,628 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,379,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 791,318 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $236,865,000 after purchasing an additional 24,640 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Home Depot Trading Down 0.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $331.82 billion, a PE ratio of 22.17, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $369.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $339.05.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.05. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. The company had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. Home Depot’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.60%.

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.