The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirty-one research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-two have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $436.50.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $440.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. HSBC upgraded shares of Home Depot from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price target for the company from $356.00 to $410.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target 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. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Home Depot from $455.00 to $435.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of HD stock traded up $5.14 on Wednesday, 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock's 50 day moving average is $401.00 and its 200-day moving average is $399.71. Home Depot has a fifty-two week low of $323.77 and a fifty-two week high of $439.37. The company has a market capitalization 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $39.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.15 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Home Depot will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $2.30 per share. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Home Depot's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Home Depot's payout ratio is 61.66%.

Institutional Trading of Home Depot

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,763,752 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $37,251,142,000 after acquiring an additional 875,836 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,957,463 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $8,525,046,000 after acquiring an additional 257,036 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter worth $5,032,910,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Home Depot by 5.5% during 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 buying an additional 647,552 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Home Depot by 13.3% during 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 buying an additional 1,424,857 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company's stock.

Home Depot Company 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.