Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Trading Down 1.2% After Analyst Downgrade

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) fell 1.2% during trading on Wednesday after Truist Financial lowered their price target on the stock from $437.00 to $391.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Home Depot traded as low as $326.31 and last traded at $331.23. 1,521,267 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 3,467,072 shares. The stock had previously closed at $335.24.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Gordon Haskett lowered Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Home Depot from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Home Depot from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $434.08.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Home Depot

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,763,752 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $37,251,142,000 after acquiring an additional 875,836 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Home Depot by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,957,463 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $8,525,046,000 after purchasing an additional 257,036 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,032,910,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 12,455,582 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,845,098,000 after buying an additional 647,552 shares during the period. Finally, 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 worth $4,726,186,000 after buying an additional 1,424,857 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 50-day simple moving average of $379.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $397.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $329.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.50, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $2.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 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.