Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Trading Down 0.9% Following Analyst Downgrade

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) shares 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 traded 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.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on HD. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $333.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Home Depot from $386.00 to $417.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Barclays upgraded Home Depot from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $372.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the firm’s 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 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 Investors Weigh In On Home Depot

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 18,737,490 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,918,425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698,402 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Home Depot by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,765,587 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,117,016,000 after buying an additional 992,444 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,217,777 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,540,197,000 after buying an additional 347,614 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth $4,311,070,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 1.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,347,396 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,730,889,000 after acquiring an additional 153,141 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $329.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.04, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.98. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $368.54 and a 200-day moving average of $339.01.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $34.79 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is presently 59.60%.

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.