Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Trading 0.7% Higher – Here’s Why

Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) were up 0.7% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $354.38 and last traded at $351.90. Approximately 511,400 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 3,192,194 shares. The stock had previously closed at $349.57.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Home Depot from $455.00 to $435.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. KGI Securities raised Home Depot to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $436.50.

Home Depot Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $347.58 billion, a PE ratio of 23.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50 day moving average is $394.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $398.78. 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 (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.09. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The company had revenue of $39.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $2.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 61.66%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Home Depot by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,763,752 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $37,251,142,000 after acquiring an additional 875,836 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,957,463 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $8,525,046,000 after buying an additional 257,036 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth $5,032,910,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Home Depot by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 12,455,582 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,845,098,000 after purchasing an additional 647,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Home Depot by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,149,890 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,726,186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,857 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.