Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Stock Price Down 0.7% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) were down 0.7% on Tuesday after Evercore ISI lowered their price target on the stock from $420.00 to $415.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Home Depot traded as low as $334.72 and last traded at $335.47. Approximately 981,460 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 3,286,612 shares. The stock had previously closed at $337.93.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Home Depot from $333.00 to $415.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Home Depot from $355.00 to $366.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho began coverage on Home Depot in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $415.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $370.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Home Depot from $347.00 to $393.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $375.96.

Insider Transactions at Home Depot

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Home Depot

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 18,737,490 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,918,425,000 after acquiring an additional 1,698,402 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 14,765,587 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $5,117,016,000 after acquiring an additional 992,444 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Home Depot by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,217,777 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,540,197,000 after acquiring an additional 347,614 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth $4,311,070,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Home Depot by 1.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,347,396 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,730,889,000 after buying an additional 153,141 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Home Depot Price 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 50-day simple moving average of $369.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $338.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $332.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.98.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,339.65% and a net margin of 9.92%. The company had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a $2.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.60%.

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.