The Home Depot, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $2.25 (NYSE:HD)

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, August 15th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of 2.25 per share by the home improvement retailer on Thursday, September 12th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%.

Home Depot has increased its dividend by an average of 11.7% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Home Depot has a dividend payout ratio of 55.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Home Depot to earn $16.15 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $9.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 55.7%.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of HD traded up $4.41 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $360.07. The company had a trading volume of 3,573,145 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,434,914. Home Depot has a 52-week low of $274.26 and a 52-week high of $396.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $357.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.14, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $349.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $353.16.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.59 by $0.08. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,056.67% and a net margin of 9.79%. The firm had revenue of $43.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Home Depot will post 15.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on HD shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Home Depot from $415.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Home Depot in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $426.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com cut Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 25th. DA Davidson raised Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $352.00 to $395.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Home Depot from $377.00 to $363.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Home Depot has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $384.00.

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.