Verus Capital Partners LLC Raises Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Verus Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,514 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $2,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 65.2% during the fourth quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 9,100 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,535,000 after acquiring an additional 3,590 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic grew its position in Home Depot by 51.4% during the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,357,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 132,967 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,569 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $5,291,000 after buying an additional 1,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth $1,793,000. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Home Depot Stock Down 0.0 %

HD opened at $390.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $387.85 billion, a PE ratio of 26.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.05. The Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.77 and a twelve month high of $439.37. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $401.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $398.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $39.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.15 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. Home Depot’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $2.30 per share. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Home Depot’s payout ratio is 61.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on HD shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Home Depot from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Home Depot from $375.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays lifted their target price on Home Depot from $372.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Home Depot from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Home Depot presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $436.50.

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.