Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

HD has been the subject of several other reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Home Depot from $333.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. TD Cowen increased their price target on Home Depot from $415.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Home Depot from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on shares of Home Depot from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Home Depot from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $366.76.

Home Depot Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE HD traded up $4.94 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $384.35. 2,748,325 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,173,145. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 1.35. Home Depot has a one year low of $274.26 and a one year high of $385.10. The company’s 50-day moving average is $364.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $332.14. The company has a market capitalization of $380.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.99.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $34.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.64 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 1,452.22%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Home Depot will post 15.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $13,265,887.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Home Depot news, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total transaction of $13,265,887.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total value of $3,317,185.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Home Depot

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in shares of Home Depot in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Home Depot during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 68.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Home Depot Company Profile

The Home Depot, Inc operates as a home improvement retailer. 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.