Homestead Advisers Corp Boosts Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Homestead Advisers Corp lifted its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 144,672 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,300 shares during the quarter. Homestead Advisers Corp’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $56,276,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,981,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Home Depot by 29.9% in the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 54,014 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $21,011,000 after purchasing an additional 12,428 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Home Depot by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 89,529 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $34,826,000 after purchasing an additional 13,193 shares during the last quarter. Moment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $410,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Home Depot by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,690,570 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $657,936,000 after purchasing an additional 134,453 shares in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on HD. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Home Depot from $440.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. HSBC upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $356.00 to $410.00 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. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $435.85.

Home Depot Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:HD opened at $362.01 on Thursday. 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 fifty day moving average price of $391.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $398.90. The stock has a market cap of $359.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.59, a P/E/G 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.09. The firm 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%. Home Depot’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $2.30 per share. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Home Depot’s dividend 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.