Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Trading Down 0.4% After Analyst Downgrade

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)’s share price traded 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. 615,513 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 3,217,302 shares. The stock had previously closed at $363.77.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $455.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Home Depot from $467.00 to $437.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, KGI Securities upgraded Home Depot to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $435.85.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Home Depot

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in Home Depot by 220.0% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 96 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Home Depot Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $393.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $399.16. The company has a market capitalization of $360.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.65, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.66%.

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.