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

StockNews.com cut shares of Home Depot (NYSE:HD) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. HSBC reaffirmed a reduce rating and set a $323.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. 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 report on Tuesday, February 13th. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on shares of Home Depot from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $375.96.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HD opened at $342.28 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $361.16 and its 200 day moving average is $343.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $339.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.01. Home Depot has a fifty-two week low of $274.26 and a fifty-two week high of $396.87.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Home Depot will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a $2.25 dividend. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.60%.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its holdings in Home Depot by 3.7% in the third quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 88,444 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $26,725,000 after acquiring an additional 3,162 shares in the last quarter. Hartline Investment Corp boosted its holdings in Home Depot by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Hartline Investment Corp now owns 15,574 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,397,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors boosted its holdings in Home Depot by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors now owns 7,513 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,604,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group bought a new stake in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at $253,000. Finally, Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel boosted its holdings in Home Depot by 8.0% in the third quarter. Psagot Value Holdings Ltd. Israel now owns 2,700 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $819,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.