Verus Capital Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Verus Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,514 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 393 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $2,534,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Home Depot by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 2,117 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. boosted its stake in Home Depot by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 4,653 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Insight Inv LLC grew its holdings in Home Depot by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 1,246 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Home Depot by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 1,108 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Live Oak Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,915 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,912,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on HD shares. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday. HSBC raised Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $356.00 to $410.00 in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Home Depot from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Home Depot from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $436.50.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of HD opened at $390.44 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $387.85 billion, a PE ratio of 26.52, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $401.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $398.37. 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 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 earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $39.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.15 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. Equities analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $2.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is 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 2.36%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 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.