Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Trading Down 2.6% – Should You Sell?

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) shares dropped 2.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $345.90 and last traded at $345.82. 619,482 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 3,669,549 shares. The stock had previously closed at $355.06.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. HSBC upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $356.00 to $410.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Home Depot from $440.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Home Depot from $440.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $434.08.

Home Depot Trading Down 3.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $341.36 billion, a PE ratio of 23.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $369.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $394.08.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $2.30 per share. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.66%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,032,910,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Home Depot by 39,194.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,236,903 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $37,517,230,000 after buying an additional 10,210,851 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,212,546,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Home Depot by 21,394.9% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,039,862 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $793,486,000 after acquiring an additional 2,030,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Home Depot by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,149,890 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,726,186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424,857 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.