Cornerstone Capital Inc. Increases Stock Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Cornerstone Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 56,031 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after buying an additional 3,546 shares during the quarter. Home Depot accounts for about 2.1% of Cornerstone Capital Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Cornerstone Capital Inc.’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $22,704,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of HD. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 10.7% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,394 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 623 shares during the period. Diversified LLC boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 9.6% in the first quarter. Diversified LLC now owns 3,608 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 2.7% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 38,031 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $14,588,000 after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares during the period. Finally, Nicollet Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,236,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

Home Depot Stock Performance

NYSE:HD opened at $400.21 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $393.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $362.92. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1-year low of $286.79 and a 1-year high of $421.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.74, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $397.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.01.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 13th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.59 by $0.08. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 733.61%. The firm had revenue of $43.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.65 EPS. Home Depot’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.01 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th were given a $2.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on HD. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $415.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Home Depot from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Loop Capital raised shares of Home Depot from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $360.00 to $460.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Home Depot from $390.00 to $450.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Home Depot from $430.00 to $466.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $415.26.

Home Depot Company Profile

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.