Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Shares Up 1.1% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) shot up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Daiwa Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $348.00 to $360.00. Daiwa Capital Markets currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Home Depot traded as high as $357.50 and last traded at $356.6450. 3,314,309 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 10% from the average session volume of 3,662,852 shares. The stock had previously closed at $352.68.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on HD. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Home Depot from $370.00 to $350.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 1st. DA Davidson cut their price target on Home Depot from $430.00 to $407.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Home Depot from $379.00 to $375.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Home Depot from $420.00 to $405.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $402.07.

Insider Activity at Home Depot

In other news, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $358.26, for a total transaction of $51,947.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 12,320 shares in the company, valued at $4,413,763.20. This represents a 1.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Angie Brown sold 1,946 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $357.63, for a total value of $695,947.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 3,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,409,419.83. The trade was a 33.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Home Depot

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HD. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Home Depot by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 26,918 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $10,471,000 after buying an additional 7,203 shares during the period. United Bank increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 5,023 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,841,000 after acquiring an additional 653 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC raised its stake in Home Depot by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 2,061 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $755,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Home Depot in the 1st quarter valued at $909,000. Finally, Tradition Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Home Depot by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,494 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,647,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $366.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $378.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $353.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.20, a PEG ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 1.06.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 18th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.83 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $41.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.06 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 160.74%. Home Depot’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. Home Depot has set its FY 2025 guidance at 14.478-14.478 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 4th were issued a $2.30 dividend. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 4th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.71%.

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.