Cullen Investment Group LTD. Purchases 297 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. boosted its position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,557 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 297 shares during the period. Home Depot makes up approximately 1.2% of Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $7,925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc increased its position in Home Depot by 27.6% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 27,155 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $9,348,000 after buying an additional 5,879 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in Home Depot by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 37,127 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $14,242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC increased its holdings in Home Depot by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 18,628 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $7,146,000 after purchasing an additional 965 shares in the last quarter. Leeward Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in Home Depot by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Leeward Financial Partners LLC now owns 10,431 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,001,000 after purchasing an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new stake in Home Depot during the 4th quarter worth approximately $88,708,000. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on HD. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Home Depot from $380.00 to $375.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Melius Research began coverage on Home Depot in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $420.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Home Depot from $377.00 to $363.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their target price on Home Depot from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.54.

Home Depot Stock Performance

HD stock traded down $3.22 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $408.36. 3,989,606 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,392,598. The firm has a market capitalization of $404.94 billion, a PE ratio of 27.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.00. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.26 and a 52 week high of $412.97. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $373.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $356.40. 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 (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 681.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.01 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 60.36%.

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.