StockNews.com Upgrades Home Depot (NYSE:HD) to Buy

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Home Depot from $299.00 to $377.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $390.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Friday, April 5th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Home Depot from $415.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Wedbush raised their price objective on Home Depot from $380.00 to $410.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $311.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.96.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HD opened at $331.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $328.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.98. Home Depot has a one year low of $274.26 and a one year high of $396.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $365.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $340.40.

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

Insider Transactions at Home Depot

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HD. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,963 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $680,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC increased its stake in Home Depot by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. STAR Financial Bank increased its stake in Home Depot by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. STAR Financial Bank now owns 3,944 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,367,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Home Depot by 0.8% during the third quarter. Harvest Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. increased its stake in Home Depot by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. now owns 10,903 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,778,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

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.