Southland Equity Partners LLC Raises Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Southland Equity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 7.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,410 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Southland Equity Partners LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 1st quarter valued at $5,131,000. Matauro LLC purchased a new position in Home Depot in the 1st quarter worth $1,428,000. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV purchased a new position in Home Depot in the 1st quarter worth $268,000. Goldstone Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Home Depot by 39.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC now owns 2,484 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $911,000 after acquiring an additional 704 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New England Research & Management Inc. raised its stake in Home Depot by 117.5% in the 1st quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. now owns 7,034 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,578,000 after acquiring an additional 3,800 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on HD shares. KGI Securities upgraded Home Depot to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $415.00 target price (up previously from $410.00) on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $398.00 target price (up previously from $380.00) on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $426.77.

Home Depot Price Performance

NYSE:HD opened at $354.10 on Friday. 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 52 week low of $326.31 and a 52 week high of $439.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $352.31 billion, a PE ratio of 24.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $362.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $382.81.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.59 by ($0.03). Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The firm had revenue of $39.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.63 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be issued a $2.30 dividend. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 62.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Fahim Siddiqui sold 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.14, for a total transaction of $954,564.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,951 shares in the company, valued at $2,919,130.14. The trade was a 24.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 5,406 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $369.28, for a total value of $1,996,327.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,367 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,413,285.76. This represents a 23.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Home Depot Company Profile

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.