First City Capital Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

First City Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 46.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,434 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,108 shares during the quarter. Home Depot comprises approximately 5.3% of First City Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. First City Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $10,306,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HD. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 51,250.1% during 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. boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,474,459 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Home Depot by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,437,805 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,853,143,000 after purchasing an additional 971,833 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 1st quarter worth approximately $301,364,000. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its stake in shares of Home Depot by 95.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 1,139,934 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $392,411,000 after purchasing an additional 556,053 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Home Depot from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays upped their price objective on Home Depot from $372.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Home Depot in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $451.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded Home Depot from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Home Depot presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $426.00.

Home Depot Stock Performance

NYSE:HD opened at $410.44 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $400.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $367.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $407.69 billion, a PE ratio of 27.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $302.34 and a twelve month high of $421.56.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.64 by $0.14. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The business had revenue of $40.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In related news, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.91, for a total transaction of $9,030,368.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,343,399.64. The trade was a 51.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.10% 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.