Kensington Investment Counsel LLC Raises Stock Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Kensington Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,731 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 623 shares during the quarter. Home Depot makes up approximately 2.2% of Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $5,341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HD. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 102 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the third quarter worth $41,000. Institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. 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 report on Wednesday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Home Depot from $455.00 to $435.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Home Depot presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $436.50.

Home Depot Stock Up 0.8 %

HD opened at $354.06 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $396.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $399.54. 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 Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.77 and a twelve month high of $439.37. The firm has a market cap of $351.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.05, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $2.30 per share. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is 61.66%.

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.