Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Stock Price Up 0.3% – Should You Buy?

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) shares rose 0.3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $397.51 and last traded at $396.24. Approximately 373,986 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 3,347,656 shares. The stock had previously closed at $395.07.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on HD. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Home Depot from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $451.00 price objective on the stock. Daiwa America raised shares of Home Depot to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $360.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Home Depot has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $413.48.

Home Depot Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.74, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $389.94 billion, a PE ratio of 26.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $392.17 and its 200 day moving average is $361.25.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.59 by $0.08. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 681.27%. The business had revenue of $43.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.65 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th were paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.57%.

Institutional Trading of Home Depot

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the second quarter worth $33,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new position in shares of Home Depot during the second quarter worth about $40,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of Home Depot during the third quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Home Depot during the second quarter worth about $47,000. 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.