Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 29.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 558,023 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 233,463 shares during the quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.06% of Home Depot worth $217,065,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Renasant Bank lifted its stake in Home Depot by 113.6% in the 4th quarter. Renasant Bank now owns 3,144 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,672 shares in the last quarter. King Wealth Management Group lifted its stake in Home Depot by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 14,755 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $5,740,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Home Depot by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 5,834 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,269,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. May Barnhard Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Home Depot in the 4th quarter worth $431,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Home Depot in the 4th quarter worth $1,769,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on HD shares. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $455.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, KGI Securities upgraded shares of Home Depot to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $436.50.

Home Depot Price Performance

Home Depot stock opened at $347.42 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $345.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. 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 Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $323.77 and a 1 year high of $439.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $398.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $399.42.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.09. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The company had revenue of $39.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.82 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a $2.30 dividend. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.66%.

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.