Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Buys Shares of 121,648 The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 121,648 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $47,320,000. Home Depot accounts for 1.2% of Generali Asset Management SPA SGR’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc boosted its stake in Home Depot by 65.2% during the 4th quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 9,100 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $3,535,000 after purchasing an additional 3,590 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 23,758 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $9,242,000 after acquiring an additional 3,873 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 51.4% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 11,200 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $4,357,000 after acquiring an additional 3,800 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 909,530 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $368,542,000 after acquiring an additional 132,967 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,569 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $5,291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506 shares during the period. 70.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on HD shares. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Home Depot from $467.00 to $437.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. HSBC upgraded shares of Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $356.00 to $410.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $436.50.

Home Depot Price Performance

NYSE HD opened at $354.06 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The company has a market cap of $351.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.05, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $396.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $399.54. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $323.77 and a 1 year high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.82 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $2.30 per share. This is an increase from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.