Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on Home Depot (NYSE:HD)

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 40,186 put options on the company. This is an increase of 76% compared to the typical daily volume of 22,813 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Home Depot from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $467.00 to $437.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Home Depot from $440.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. HSBC upgraded Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $356.00 to $410.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Home Depot from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $436.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SYM FINANCIAL Corp lifted its position in Home Depot by 17.8% during the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,917 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $777,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 132,967 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 10.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,471,223 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $596,140,000 after buying an additional 141,915 shares during the last quarter. United Bank grew its holdings in Home Depot by 4.2% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 4,458 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,806,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd raised its position in Home Depot by 5.9% during the third quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 10,052 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,070,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of HD traded down $15.01 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $347.42. 6,989,679 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,449,029. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $399.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $399.78. Home Depot has a 52-week low of $323.77 and a 52-week high of $439.37. 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 cap of $345.12 billion, a PE ratio of 23.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $2.30 per share. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Home Depot’s payout ratio is currently 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.