Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Shares Down 0.4% on Analyst Downgrade

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)’s stock price was down 0.4% during trading on Tuesday after Piper Sandler lowered their price target on the stock from $435.00 to $418.00. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Home Depot traded as low as $360.67 and last traded at $362.29. Approximately 615,513 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 3,217,302 shares. The stock had previously closed at $363.77.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on HD. KGI Securities raised Home Depot to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Home Depot from $467.00 to $437.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $435.85.

Institutional Trading of Home Depot

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HD. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,032,910,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,212,546,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Home Depot by 21,394.9% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,039,862 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $793,486,000 after buying an additional 2,030,372 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Home Depot by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,149,890 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,726,186,000 after buying an additional 1,424,857 shares during the period. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $471,189,000. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Home Depot Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The company has a market cap of $359.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $391.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $398.90.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $2.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Home Depot’s payout ratio is presently 61.66%.

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.