Home Depot Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:HD)

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors bought 40,186 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 76% compared to the typical volume of 22,813 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on HD shares. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Home Depot from $467.00 to $437.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. KGI Securities raised Home Depot to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Home Depot from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Nine 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $436.50.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of Home Depot stock opened at $351.16 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $397.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $399.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 1.13. Home Depot has a one year low of $323.77 and a one year high of $439.37. The company has a market cap of $348.83 billion, a PE ratio of 23.86, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $39.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.15 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.82 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Home Depot will post 15.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $2.30 per share. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.66%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Home Depot

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at $5,032,910,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at $2,212,546,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Home Depot by 21,394.9% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,039,862 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $793,486,000 after acquiring an additional 2,030,372 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,149,890 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,726,186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,424,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth about $471,189,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

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.