Zacks Research Downgrades Home Depot (NYSE:HD) to Strong Sell

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on HD. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Home Depot from $470.00 to $410.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Home Depot from $444.00 to $423.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Home Depot from $450.00 to $425.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Truist Financial set a $379.00 price target on Home Depot in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Finally, KGI Securities downgraded Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Twenty-two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Home Depot has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $404.60.

Home Depot Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE HD opened at $356.98 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $355.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.31, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 1.15. Home Depot has a 1 year low of $326.31 and a 1 year high of $436.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $378.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $380.53.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 18th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.83 by ($0.09). Home Depot had a net margin of 8.86% and a return on equity of 193.99%. The business had revenue of $41.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.78 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Home Depot has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.478-14.478 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Home Depot will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Home Depot news, EVP William D. Bastek sold 2,303 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.12, for a total value of $974,445.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,254,313.20. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Home Depot

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 36.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 26,918 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $10,471,000 after buying an additional 7,203 shares in the last quarter. United Bank increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 5,023 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,841,000 after purchasing an additional 653 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 1st quarter worth $507,000. Mullooly Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Home Depot during the first quarter valued at about $1,664,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc grew its holdings in Home Depot by 6.3% during the first quarter. Asset Planning Inc now owns 1,874 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $687,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is 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.