Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Trading Down 0.5% on Analyst Downgrade

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) shares fell 0.5% during trading on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $425.00 to $400.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Home Depot traded as low as $337.63 and last traded at $338.89. 498,715 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 3,312,404 shares. The stock had previously closed at $340.69.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on HD. HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and set a $323.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Home Depot from $420.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $390.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a report on Friday, April 5th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $375.19.

Insider Transactions at Home Depot

In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $13,265,887.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $13,265,887.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total value of $3,317,185.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Home Depot

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 1.3% in the first quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 5,498 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,109,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 22,321 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $8,562,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 5,087 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,889,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in Home Depot by 129.0% in the 1st quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 80,223 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $30,774,000 after purchasing an additional 45,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in Home Depot during the first quarter worth $1,326,000. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Home Depot Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The company has a market capitalization of $344.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $359.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $343.51.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.60%.

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.