Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Stock Price Up 0.3% – Here’s Why

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)’s stock price shot up 0.3% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $365.09 and last traded at $363.23. 777,786 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 3,501,974 shares. The stock had previously closed at $362.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HD. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Home Depot from $440.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $435.00 to $418.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, KGI Securities upgraded shares of Home Depot to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.85.

Home Depot Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $355.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $389.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $398.60.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.66%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HD. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,763,752 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $37,251,142,000 after buying an additional 875,836 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 257,036 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,032,910,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Home Depot by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 12,455,582 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,845,098,000 after purchasing an additional 647,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,149,890 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,726,186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,857 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.