The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $375.19.

HD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $420.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Home Depot from $415.00 to $395.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com cut Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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.

Home Depot Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Home Depot stock opened at $338.70 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $335.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $360.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $343.54. Home Depot has a 12-month low of $274.26 and a 12-month high of $396.87. 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 announced its earnings results 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. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. The company had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Home Depot will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In related news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Berkshire Money Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Home Depot during the 1st quarter valued at about $225,000. Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the first quarter valued at approximately $352,000. MAI Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 3.6% in the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 212,453 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $81,497,000 after purchasing an additional 7,434 shares during the last quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 17.9% in the first quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 45,326 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $17,387,000 after buying an additional 6,885 shares during the period. Finally, West Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Home Depot by 18.3% during the 1st quarter. West Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,819 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $698,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during 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.