Sentinel Trust Co. LBA Grows Stock Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Sentinel Trust Co. LBA grew its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 18.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,203 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 503 shares during the period. Sentinel Trust Co. LBA’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $1,246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in shares of Home Depot by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 171,005 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $69,340,000 after purchasing an additional 16,650 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its holdings in Home Depot by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,917 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $777,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the third quarter valued at about $217,000. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 17.1% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 909,530 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $368,542,000 after buying an additional 132,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hedeker Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 0.9% in the third quarter. Hedeker Wealth LLC now owns 4,868 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,972,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HD opened at $390.44 on Friday. 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 $387.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.05. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12 month low of $323.77 and a 12 month high of $439.37. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $401.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $398.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $39.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.15 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. Home Depot’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.82 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $2.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 61.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Home Depot from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Hsbc Global Res raised Home Depot from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America boosted their target price on Home Depot from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, HSBC raised Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $356.00 to $410.00 in a report on Wednesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $436.50.

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.