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

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

Several other equities analysts have also commented on HD. Mizuho assumed coverage on Home Depot in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a buy rating and a $415.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Oppenheimer lowered Home Depot from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Home Depot from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $415.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock 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 given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $375.96.

Home Depot Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:HD opened at $335.36 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $367.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $339.21. Home Depot has a 52 week low of $274.26 and a 52 week high of $396.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $332.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.98.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. The business had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.30 earnings per share. The company’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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is 59.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,311,070,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Home Depot by 105,205.6% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,994,957 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,472,867,000 after acquiring an additional 10,984,516 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Home Depot by 12,647.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,569,482 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,930,104,000 after acquiring an additional 5,525,791 shares in the last quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Home Depot by 30,994.4% in the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 2,413,234 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $241,323,000 after acquiring an additional 2,405,473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Home Depot by 29.9% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,450,798 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,928,622,000 after acquiring an additional 1,944,762 shares in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.