The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $2.09

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 16th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, November 30th will be paid a dividend of 2.09 per share by the home improvement retailer on Thursday, December 14th. This represents a $8.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%.

Home Depot has increased its dividend payment by an average of 11.8% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. Home Depot has a payout ratio of 52.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Home Depot to earn $15.73 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $8.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 53.1%.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HD opened at $306.44 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $306.46 billion, a PE ratio of 19.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.37. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $299.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $306.48. Home Depot has a twelve month low of $274.26 and a twelve month high of $347.25.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 14th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.75 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $37.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $37.59 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,339.65% and a net margin of 10.22%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.24 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Home Depot will post 15.05 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Home Depot from $314.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Home Depot from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 16th. HSBC assumed coverage on Home Depot in a research report on Friday, September 22nd. They set a “hold” rating and a $365.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Home Depot from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $310.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 15th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $339.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In other Home Depot news, CAO Kimberly R. Scardino sold 1,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.69, for a total transaction of $522,704.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,281 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,705,319.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 12,120 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.40, for a total transaction of $3,943,848.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 73,049 shares in the company, valued at $23,770,144.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Kimberly R. Scardino sold 1,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.69, for a total value of $522,704.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,281 shares in the company, valued at $2,705,319.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,811 shares of company stock valued at $6,441,376 in the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Home Depot

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of HD. NCM Capital Management LLC grew its position in Home Depot by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 5,028 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,588,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Delphia USA Inc. increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 5.9% during the first quarter. Delphia USA Inc. now owns 759 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 1.9% during the second quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. now owns 2,358 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Laraway Financial Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Home Depot by 3.2% in the first quarter. Laraway Financial Advisors Inc now owns 1,610 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, White Pine Capital LLC lifted its position in Home Depot by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. White Pine Capital LLC now owns 1,311 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $414,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.34% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, August 15th that allows the company to buyback $15.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the home improvement retailer to buy up to 4.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Home Depot

The Home Depot, Inc operates as a home improvement retailer. 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.