Alethea Capital Management LLC Invests $396,000 in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Alethea Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,149 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $396,000. Home Depot accounts for 0.3% of Alethea Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,765,587 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $5,117,016,000 after purchasing an additional 992,444 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Home Depot by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 8,790,895 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,046,485,000 after buying an additional 184,480 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Home Depot by 1.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,515,343 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,931,328,000 after buying an additional 100,139 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Home Depot by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,437,805 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,853,143,000 after buying an additional 971,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 5,774,083 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,980,883,000 after acquiring an additional 138,396 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Home Depot Stock Performance

HD stock opened at $399.44 on Friday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1-year low of $274.26 and a 1-year high of $403.54. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $368.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $355.21. The company has a market capitalization of $396.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.79, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.74, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 13th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.67 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $42.57 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 681.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th were paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 29th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on HD. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Home Depot from $415.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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. UBS Group increased their price target on Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Home Depot from $377.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $360.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $391.88.

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.