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

Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $426.00.

Several research analysts recently commented on HD shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Home Depot from $372.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Home Depot in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $451.00 price objective for the company. Telsey Advisory Group raised shares of Home Depot from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $360.00 to $455.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $430.00 to $466.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total transaction of $40,258.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,018,159.70. This represents a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of Home Depot 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,343,399.64. This trade represents a 51.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HD. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Home Depot by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,994 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 51.4% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,357,000 after acquiring an additional 3,800 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its position in Home Depot by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 909,530 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $368,542,000 after purchasing an additional 132,967 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in Home Depot by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,569 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,793,000. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Home Depot Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:HD opened at $407.39 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $406.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $393.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.31. Home Depot has a 1 year low of $323.77 and a 1 year high of $439.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $404.68 billion, a PE ratio of 27.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th were given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 27th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.14%.

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.