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

Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) rose 0.7% during trading 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. Approximately 344,586 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 3,337,670 shares. The stock had previously closed at $395.57.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on HD. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $360.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Melius Research initiated coverage on Home Depot in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $420.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Home Depot from $415.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Home Depot from $345.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded Home Depot from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $415.26.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of HD. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 10.7% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,394 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,421 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,381,000 after acquiring an additional 623 shares during the period. Diversified LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Diversified LLC now owns 3,608 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Home Depot by 2.7% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 38,031 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $14,588,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares during the period. Finally, Nicollet Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Home Depot in the first quarter worth about $3,236,000. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Home Depot Trading Up 1.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $397.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.93, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $393.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $362.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.74, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

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

Home Depot Announces Dividend

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

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.