Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Stock Price Down 3.7% – Time to Sell?

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) fell 3.7% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $384.75 and last traded at $385.23. 2,002,695 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 40% from the average session volume of 3,341,469 shares. The stock had previously closed at $400.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on HD. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $360.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Loop Capital raised shares of Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $360.00 to $460.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $380.00 to $375.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $451.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Daiwa America raised shares of Home Depot to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $416.37.

Home Depot Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $385.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.01. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $393.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $363.10.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.65 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.01 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were issued a dividend of $2.25 per share. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 29th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Home Depot

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,394 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,421 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,381,000 after purchasing an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. Diversified LLC boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Diversified LLC now owns 3,608 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in Home Depot by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 38,031 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $14,588,000 after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicollet Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Home Depot during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,236,000. 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.