The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-seven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $389.04.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on HD shares. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Home Depot in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $426.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Home Depot from $380.00 to $375.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. DA Davidson increased their price target on Home Depot from $395.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 25th.

Institutional Trading of Home Depot

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth about $4,311,070,000. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its stake in Home Depot by 33,540.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,478,855 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $509,081,000 after purchasing an additional 1,474,459 shares in the last quarter. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in Home Depot in the 1st quarter valued at $513,016,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Home Depot by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,765,587 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,117,016,000 after purchasing an additional 992,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 15.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,437,805 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,853,143,000 after purchasing an additional 971,833 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Home Depot Stock Up 0.4 %

HD stock opened at $383.46 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.74, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 1.15. Home Depot has a fifty-two week low of $274.26 and a fifty-two week high of $396.87. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $362.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $353.92. The company has a market cap of $380.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.00.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.59 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $43.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.57 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 681.27% and a net margin of 9.71%. Home Depot’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.65 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Home Depot will post 15.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.36%.

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.