Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Shares Down 0.1% – Time to Sell?

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) shares dropped 0.1% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $380.73 and last traded at $386.09. Approximately 633,686 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 3,237,515 shares. The stock had previously closed at $386.35.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $467.00 to $437.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Home Depot from $440.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $436.50.

Home Depot Stock Down 1.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company has a market capitalization of $378.95 billion, a PE ratio of 25.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $400.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $399.62.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $2.30 dividend. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is 61.66%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Home Depot

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 17.8% in the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,917 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $777,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. acquired a new position in Home Depot in the 3rd quarter valued at about $217,000. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Home Depot by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 909,530 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $368,542,000 after purchasing an additional 132,967 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its holdings in Home Depot by 81.8% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 9,558 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,873,000 after purchasing an additional 4,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 215,374 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $87,270,000 after purchasing an additional 5,043 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Home Depot

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.