KGI Securities Upgrades Home Depot (NYSE:HD) to "Strong-Buy"

Home Depot (NYSE:HD - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at KGI Securities to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $372.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $440.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Home Depot currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $436.50.

Home Depot Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE HD traded up $5.14 on Monday, hitting $386.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,779,754 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,301,894. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. Home Depot has a 1-year low of $323.77 and a 1-year high of $439.37. The company's 50-day moving average is $400.81 and its 200 day moving average is $399.62. The firm has a market cap of $384.25 billion, a PE ratio of 26.28, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.05.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $39.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $39.15 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. Home Depot's revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Home Depot will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Home Depot

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,763,752 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $37,251,142,000 after purchasing an additional 875,836 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,957,463 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $8,525,046,000 after purchasing an additional 257,036 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,032,910,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 12,455,582 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $4,845,098,000 after purchasing an additional 647,552 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,149,890 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $4,726,186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,857 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company's stock.

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.