The Home Depot, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $2.25 (NYSE:HD)

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 14th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be paid a dividend of 2.25 per share by the home improvement retailer on Thursday, December 12th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 27th.

Home Depot has increased its dividend payment by an average of 11.7% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Home Depot has a payout ratio of 57.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Home Depot to earn $15.60 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $9.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.7%.

Home Depot Price Performance

NYSE:HD opened at $428.67 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $404.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $369.82. Home Depot has a 1-year low of $308.59 and a 1-year high of $430.25. The firm has a market cap of $425.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.01.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.14. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The company had revenue of $40.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Home Depot will post 15.12 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Daiwa America raised shares of Home Depot to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Home Depot from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Home Depot from $363.00 to $413.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $426.00.

Insider Transactions at Home Depot

In other Home Depot news, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.91, for a total value of $9,030,368.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,343,399.64. This represents a 51.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $6,553,958.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 77,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,727,562. This trade represents a 17.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.