Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Trading Up 2.4% – Still a Buy?

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)’s stock price traded up 2.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $419.40 and last traded at $419.39. 705,365 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 2,996,039 shares. The stock had previously closed at $409.38.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HD. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $360.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Telsey Advisory Group raised Home Depot from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $360.00 to $455.00 in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Home Depot in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $451.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Home Depot from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Home Depot presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $426.00.

Home Depot Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $406.83 and a 200 day moving average of $389.47. The stock has a market cap of $411.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.16, a P/E/G ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 1.05. 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 (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.14. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The business had revenue of $40.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.81 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th were issued a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.14%.

Insider Transactions at Home Depot

In other Home Depot news, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,343,399.64. This represents a 51.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total value of $40,258.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,188 shares of company stock worth $15,624,585 over the last quarter. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 27.6% in the second quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 27,155 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $9,348,000 after buying an additional 5,879 shares in the last quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Home Depot by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,994 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,024,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic boosted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 51.4% during the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,357,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Home Depot by 17.1% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 909,530 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $368,542,000 after purchasing an additional 132,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in shares of Home Depot by 12.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.