Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Has $729,000 Stock Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. cut its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 55.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,875 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 2,338 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Home Depot by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 1,205 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp increased its position in Home Depot by 3,225.6% during the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 29,498 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $11,474,000 after buying an additional 28,611 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 36,447 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $14,178,000 after buying an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 3,758 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Investment Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at about $247,000. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on HD shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Home Depot from $440.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Home Depot presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.85.

Home Depot Stock Down 1.3 %

Home Depot stock opened at $357.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $389.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $398.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $355.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1-year low of $323.77 and a 1-year high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $39.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.15 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.82 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $2.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.66%.

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.