Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Receives “Buy” Rating from Truist Financial

Truist Financial reissued their buy rating on shares of Home Depot (NYSE:HD) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $417.00 price target on the home improvement retailer’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $415.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Home Depot from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Monday, February 26th. HSBC reissued a reduce rating and issued a $323.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reissued an outperform rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $375.96.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HD opened at $332.83 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.40. Home Depot has a 1-year low of $274.26 and a 1-year high of $396.87. The company has a market capitalization of $329.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $368.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $339.01.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $34.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Home Depot will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is 59.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the 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 sale, 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. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Home Depot

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,311,070,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 105,205.6% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,994,957 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,472,867,000 after purchasing an additional 10,984,516 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 12,647.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,569,482 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,930,104,000 after purchasing an additional 5,525,791 shares during the period. Imprint Wealth LLC grew its stake in Home Depot by 30,994.4% in the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 2,413,234 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $241,323,000 after acquiring an additional 2,405,473 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Home Depot by 29.9% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,450,798 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,928,622,000 after acquiring an additional 1,944,762 shares during the period. 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.