Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Boosts Stock Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,217 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $15,255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 65.2% in the 4th quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 9,100 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,535,000 after buying an additional 3,590 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 51.4% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,357,000 after buying an additional 3,800 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 17.1% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,569 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $5,291,000 after buying an additional 1,506 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter worth $1,793,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of HD stock opened at $396.69 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $401.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $399.06. 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 market capitalization of $394.06 billion, a PE ratio of 26.95, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.05. The Home Depot, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $323.77 and a fifty-two week high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $39.70 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.82 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $2.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on HD shares. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday. HSBC upgraded Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $356.00 to $410.00 in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho boosted their price target on Home Depot from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Home Depot from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.