The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,680,000 shares, a decline of 8.4% from the October 31st total of 10,570,000 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,290,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Home Depot Price Performance

NYSE:HD traded down $2.17 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $426.96. The stock had a trading volume of 2,598,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,383,411. Home Depot has a 12 month low of $318.96 and a 12 month high of $439.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $424.12 billion, a PE ratio of 29.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $407.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $372.20.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.14. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The business had revenue of $40.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.81 EPS. Home Depot’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Home Depot will post 15.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be paid a dividend of $2.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 27th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Home Depot’s payout ratio is presently 61.14%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total value of $40,258.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,465 shares in the company, valued at $5,018,159.70. The trade was a 0.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.91, for a total value of $9,030,368.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 20,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,343,399.64. The trade was a 51.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,188 shares of company stock valued at $15,624,585 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Home Depot during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in Home Depot during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Denver PWM LLC bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of Home Depot during the third quarter worth about $46,000. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Home Depot from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $372.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $420.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Home Depot from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Home Depot in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $451.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $426.00.

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.