Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Shares Down 0.1% Following Analyst Downgrade

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) traded down 0.1% on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $445.00 to $420.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Home Depot traded as low as $362.49 and last traded at $362.49. 413,872 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 3,436,757 shares. The stock had previously closed at $362.75.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on HD. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Home Depot from $470.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Home Depot from $435.00 to $418.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, KGI Securities raised shares of Home Depot to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $430.32.

Institutional Trading of Home Depot

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 96,484,199 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $35,360,494,000 after purchasing an additional 720,447 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 257,036 shares during the period. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV lifted its position in Home Depot by 99,400.7% during the 1st quarter. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV now owns 18,975,772 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $6,954,431,000 after acquiring an additional 18,956,701 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Home Depot by 6.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,415,278 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,282,398,000 after acquiring an additional 891,326 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,032,910,000. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Home Depot Stock Performance

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 50 day moving average of $358.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $388.83. The stock has a market cap of $360.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.05.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.09. The business 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%. Home Depot’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were given a dividend of $2.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.