Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,471,223 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 141,915 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $596,140,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 27.6% in the second quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 27,155 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $9,348,000 after buying an additional 5,879 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 3.3% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 37,127 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $14,242,000 after buying an additional 1,195 shares in the last quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 1.8% in the third quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,994 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,024,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 5.5% in the first quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 18,628 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $7,146,000 after buying an additional 965 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 17.1% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 909,530 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $368,542,000 after buying an additional 132,967 shares in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on HD shares. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $420.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Home Depot from $380.00 to $375.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $451.00 target price on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $360.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $387.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Home Depot presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $416.37.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HD opened at $388.19 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $385.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.12, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.01. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52 week low of $286.79 and a 52 week high of $421.56. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $393.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $363.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.74.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 13th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.59 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $43.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.57 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 733.61%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.65 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th were paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 60.57%.

Home Depot 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.