Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Trading 1.2% Higher – Time to Buy?

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)’s stock price traded up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $395.22 and last traded at $395.30. 784,319 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 3,202,602 shares. The stock had previously closed at $390.48.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on HD shares. Mizuho upped their target price on Home Depot from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday. HSBC upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $356.00 to $410.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $372.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Home Depot from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $436.50.

Home Depot Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $394.06 billion, a PE ratio of 26.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $401.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $398.72.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $39.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.15 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.82 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $2.30 per share. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.66%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Home Depot

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Home Depot by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,763,752 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $37,251,142,000 after purchasing an additional 875,836 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,957,463 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $8,525,046,000 after purchasing an additional 257,036 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,032,910,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Home Depot by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 12,455,582 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,845,098,000 after buying an additional 647,552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Home Depot by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,149,890 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,726,186,000 after buying an additional 1,424,857 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.