HTLF Bank Invests $4.53 Million in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

HTLF Bank bought a new stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 13,081 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $4,533,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HD. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Home Depot in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Home Depot by 53.3% in the 4th quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 92 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HD. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $370.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Home Depot from $420.00 to $415.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Barclays upgraded Home Depot from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $325.00 to $372.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Home Depot from $333.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Home Depot currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $375.96.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of HD opened at $335.36 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $367.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $339.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $332.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.21, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.98. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $274.26 and a 1 year high of $396.87.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,452.22% and a net margin of 9.92%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.09. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 59.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

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

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.