Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Trading Down 0.4% After Analyst Downgrade

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)’s share price traded down 0.4% during trading on Friday 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 $361.50 and last traded at $363.25. 502,826 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 3,436,676 shares. The stock had previously closed at $364.86.

HD has been the topic of several other reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $455.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. KGI Securities upgraded Home Depot to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Home Depot from $470.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $430.32.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Home Depot

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Down 0.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The company has a market capitalization of $360.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $358.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $388.76.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly 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. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The business had revenue of $39.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.82 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $2.30 dividend. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. This is a boost 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 is presently 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.