Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Home Depot (NYSE:HD) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on HD. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Home Depot from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Home Depot from $415.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Home Depot from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $375.96.

Home Depot Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:HD opened at $335.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $332.00 billion, a PE ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.98. Home Depot has a 1 year low of $274.26 and a 1 year high of $396.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $364.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $340.68. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. The business’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. Analysts expect that Home Depot will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 2.69%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Home Depot

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HD. Naples Global Advisors LLC raised its stake in Home Depot by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 33,690 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $10,180,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Clarus Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Clarus Group Inc. now owns 1,814 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $548,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. McBroom & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. McBroom & Associates LLC now owns 15,635 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,724,000 after buying an additional 636 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Trust raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Trust now owns 8,483 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,563,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Traynor Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Traynor Capital Management Inc. now owns 40,423 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $12,214,000 after buying an additional 682 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

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.