The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Stock Position Raised by Bank of Nova Scotia

Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 34.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 376,808 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 95,586 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $146,616,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Home Depot by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 95,763,752 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $37,251,142,000 after buying an additional 875,836 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Home Depot by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 21,957,463 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $8,525,046,000 after purchasing an additional 257,036 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Home Depot during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,032,910,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Home Depot by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,552,090 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,715,668,000 after purchasing an additional 125,441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Home Depot by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 9,052,091 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,521,173,000 after purchasing an additional 468,203 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Home Depot from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Home Depot from $435.00 to $418.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $435.85.

Home Depot Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE:HD opened at $340.95 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $383.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $398.00. 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 Home Depot, Inc. has a 12-month low of $323.77 and a 12-month high of $439.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $338.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $2.30 per share. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is 61.66%.

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.