The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) saw a large decline in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,570,000 shares, a decline of 6.1% from the October 15th total of 11,260,000 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 3,300,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on HD. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Home Depot from $363.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Home Depot from $459.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $430.00 to $466.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $372.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $426.00.

Home Depot Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Home Depot stock opened at $406.88 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $404.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.64, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $401.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $367.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 1.13. Home Depot has a one year low of $302.34 and a one year high of $421.56.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $40.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Home Depot will post 15.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In other news, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.91, for a total transaction of $9,030,368.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,343,399.64. This represents a 51.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Home Depot

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its stake in Home Depot by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,687 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC grew its holdings in Home Depot by 1.7% in the third quarter. Invst LLC now owns 6,710 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,719,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA grew its holdings in Home Depot by 12.0% in the third quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 65,167 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $26,389,000 after purchasing an additional 6,995 shares during the last quarter. Second Line Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 2.1% in the third quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 4,632 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,877,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hohimer Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Home Depot by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 900 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $365,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

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.