Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 17,753 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. $HD

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 1.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,339,800 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 17,753 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $440,647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advocate Investing Services LLC purchased a new stake in Home Depot in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Home Depot by 110.0% in the 3rd quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 63 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Cache Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Merkkuri Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Home Depot from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $420.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Home Depot from $375.00 to $360.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Home Depot from $445.00 to $377.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $375.00 to $320.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $371.71.

Home Depot Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of HD opened at $337.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $336.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.95, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.23, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 1.04. The Home Depot, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $289.10 and a fifty-two week high of $426.75. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $325.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $345.40.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 19th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $41.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.59 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 8.41% and a return on equity of 117.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.56 EPS. Home Depot has set its FY 2026 guidance at 14.690-15.278 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were given a dividend of $2.33 per share. This represents a $9.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.19%.

About Home Depot

The Home Depot, Inc (NYSE: HD) is a leading home improvement retailer that operates large-format stores and an integrated online platform offering a broad range of products and services for do-it-yourself consumers, professional contractors and businesses. The company was founded in 1978 by Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Since opening its first stores at the end of the 1970s, Home Depot has grown into a multinational retailer known for its orange-branded stores and wide assortment of home improvement merchandise.

Home Depot’s core business includes the sale of building materials, lumber, tools, hardware, appliances, paint, plumbing and electrical supplies, lawn and garden products, and home décor.