Essential Planning LLC. Takes Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Essential Planning LLC. bought a new stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,976 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,624,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HD. SYM FINANCIAL Corp lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,917 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $777,000 after buying an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 17.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,471,223 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $596,140,000 after buying an additional 141,915 shares in the last quarter. United Bank lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 4,458 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,806,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 10,052 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,070,000 after buying an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered 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 note on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Home Depot has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $436.50.

Home Depot Price Performance

Shares of Home Depot stock opened at $364.82 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $362.39 billion, a PE ratio of 24.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12-month low of $323.77 and a 12-month high of $439.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $399.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $399.78.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) 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.