Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Trading Up 0.4% – Still a Buy?

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)’s stock price was up 0.4% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $430.10 and last traded at $428.88. Approximately 504,813 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 3,384,596 shares. The stock had previously closed at $427.27.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on HD shares. Loop Capital raised shares of Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $360.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Home Depot from $363.00 to $413.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Daiwa America raised shares of Home Depot to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Home Depot from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $420.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $426.00.

Home Depot Stock Down 0.1 %

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $405.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $370.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $424.09 billion, a PE ratio of 29.14, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.01.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $40.22 billion during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.81 earnings per share. Analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 27th. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 61.14%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total transaction of $40,258.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,018,159.70. This trade represents a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $6,553,958.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 77,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,727,562. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Home Depot

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HD. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 51,250.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,779,833 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $35,575,880,000 after purchasing an additional 8,762,735 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 33,540.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,478,855 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $509,081,000 after purchasing an additional 1,474,459 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the third quarter worth approximately $336,231,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in Home Depot by 10.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,679,237 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,516,827,000 after acquiring an additional 795,438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the first quarter valued at approximately $301,364,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.