Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Shares Up 0.7% on Analyst Upgrade

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)’s stock price shot up 0.7% on Tuesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $372.00 to $420.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Home Depot traded as high as $398.50 and last traded at $398.31. 344,586 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 3,337,670 shares. The stock had previously closed at $395.57.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on HD. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Home Depot in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $426.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Home Depot from $377.00 to $363.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Home Depot from $430.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Home Depot from $415.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Home Depot from $345.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Home Depot presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $415.26.

Institutional Trading of Home Depot

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HD. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Home Depot by 3.7% during the third quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 704 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Home Depot by 0.7% during the third quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,624 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,469,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Home Depot by 1.2% during the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,372 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $817,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. Acorn Creek Capital LLC grew its holdings in Home Depot by 3.4% during the second quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 845 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp grew its holdings in Home Depot by 1.9% during the third quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 1,524 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $617,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.74, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $392.94 and a 200 day moving average of $362.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $394.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.01.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.59 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $43.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.57 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 733.61% and a net margin of 9.71%. The business’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.57%.

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.