Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 2,338 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 55.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,875 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 2,338 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $729,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Home Depot by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 2,117 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $824,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Center for Financial Planning Inc. grew its holdings in Home Depot by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 4,653 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Insight Inv LLC increased its position in Home Depot by 2.0% in the third quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 1,246 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Home Depot by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 1,108 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Live Oak Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Home Depot by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,915 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $1,912,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Home Depot Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of HD opened at $357.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $355.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $323.77 and a 1 year high of $439.37. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $389.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $398.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.09. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.82 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $2.30 dividend. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 61.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Home Depot from $467.00 to $437.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. HSBC raised shares of Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $356.00 to $410.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Home Depot from $435.00 to $418.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Home Depot has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $435.85.

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.