Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Home Depot (NYSE:HD) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday.

HD has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays upgraded shares of Home Depot from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $372.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Home Depot from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on Home Depot from $335.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Guggenheim reissued a buy rating and set a $390.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $375.96.

Home Depot Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of Home Depot stock opened at $332.89 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $367.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $338.97. The stock has a market cap of $329.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94. Home Depot has a 12 month low of $274.26 and a 12 month high of $396.87.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.05. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. The company had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. Home Depot’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Home Depot will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction of $3,317,185.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction of $3,317,185.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $13,265,887.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Home Depot

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Integrity Wealth Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Integrity Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. grew its position in Home Depot by 3.1% in the first quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 3,390 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,300,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC raised its stake in Home Depot by 1.4% during the first quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 3,777 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,449,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 53.5% in the first quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 5,229 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,006,000 after acquiring an additional 1,823 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Naviter Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 7,720 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,961,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

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.