Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD - Free Report) by 10.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,471,223 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after buying an additional 141,915 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Home Depot worth $596,140,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Home Depot during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Denver PWM LLC purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot in the second quarter worth about $40,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Home Depot in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on HD. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Home Depot from $377.00 to $363.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Home Depot from $380.00 to $375.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Home Depot from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $360.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Home Depot from $415.00 to $400.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $416.52.

Home Depot Stock Up 2.8 %

HD traded up $10.94 during trading on Thursday, reaching $399.31. The stock had a trading volume of 2,416,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,360,940. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.74. The company has a market capitalization of $396.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's 50 day moving average is $393.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $363.10. The Home Depot, Inc. has a one year low of $286.79 and a one year high of $421.56.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.59 by $0.08. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 733.61%. The business had revenue of $43.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.65 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. Home Depot's dividend payout ratio is presently 60.57%.

Home Depot Profile

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.