Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $424.14 and last traded at $424.14, with a volume of 7679 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $420.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on HD. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Home Depot from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Home Depot from $430.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group upped their target price on Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Loop Capital upgraded Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $360.00 to $460.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded shares of Home Depot to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $426.00.

Home Depot Stock Up 0.2 %

The company has a market cap of $426.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $405.09 and its 200-day moving average is $370.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.64 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $40.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.31 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.81 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 27th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.14%.

Insider Activity

In other Home Depot news, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $408.91, for a total transaction of $9,030,368.44. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,343,399.64. This trade represents a 51.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 16,004 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $6,553,958.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 77,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,727,562. The trade was a 17.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,188 shares of company stock worth $15,624,585 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HD. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,394 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $535,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Home Depot by 5.8% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,421 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $4,381,000 after acquiring an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Home Depot during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $430,000. Montchanin Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,701,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 3,023 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.