Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Home Depot (NYSE:HD) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $420.00 to $415.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. HSBC restated a reduce rating and issued a $323.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Oppenheimer cut shares of Home Depot from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Home Depot from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $325.00 to $372.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $375.96.

Home Depot Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of Home Depot stock opened at $332.89 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $329.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $365.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $340.46. Home Depot has a 12-month low of $274.26 and a 12-month high of $396.87.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. Research analysts expect that Home Depot will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a $2.25 dividend. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 59.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the business’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 owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HD. IAG Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Home Depot by 6.8% during the first quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 664 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Home Depot by 5.4% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 225,317 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $86,432,000 after purchasing an additional 11,518 shares during the period. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC lifted its position in Home Depot by 0.7% during the first quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 18,973 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $7,278,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Keene & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 2.7% in the first quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. now owns 1,447 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $555,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zhang Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 4.2% in the first quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 4,287 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,644,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

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.