The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,680,000 shares, a decrease of 8.4% from the October 31st total of 10,570,000 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,290,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Insider Transactions at Home Depot

In other news, EVP Ann Marie Campbell sold 100 shares of Home Depot stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.58, for a total value of $40,258.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,465 shares in the company, valued at $5,018,159.70. The trade was a 0.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 22,084 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were 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 owns 20,404 shares in the company, valued at $8,343,399.64. The trade was a 51.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,188 shares of company stock worth $15,624,585 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Home Depot

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc increased its position in shares of Home Depot by 27.6% during the second quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 27,155 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $9,348,000 after buying an additional 5,879 shares during the period. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Home Depot by 1.8% during the third quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,994 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Home Depot by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 909,530 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $368,542,000 after acquiring an additional 132,967 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation increased its holdings in Home Depot by 121.0% during the 2nd quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 269,368 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $92,727,000 after acquiring an additional 147,482 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Home Depot by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 673,876 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $273,055,000 after purchasing an additional 84,062 shares in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Home Depot stock traded down $2.17 during trading on Monday, hitting $426.96. The stock had a trading volume of 2,598,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,383,411. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $407.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $372.20. Home Depot has a 1 year low of $318.96 and a 1 year high of $439.37. The stock has a market cap of $424.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 27th will be given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 27th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HD has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho raised their target price on Home Depot from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Telsey Advisory Group upgraded Home Depot from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $360.00 to $455.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Home Depot from an “accumulate” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $450.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $459.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Home Depot in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $451.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Home Depot presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $426.00.

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.