Fruth Investment Management Raises Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Fruth Investment Management lifted its position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 0.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,953 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the quarter. Fruth Investment Management’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $3,434,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bey Douglas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter worth approximately $913,000. Hartline Investment Corp lifted its position in shares of Home Depot by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Hartline Investment Corp now owns 15,574 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $5,397,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors lifted its holdings in Home Depot by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors now owns 7,513 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,604,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth about $253,000. Finally, Zullo Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in Home Depot by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 8,153 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Home Depot news, EVP Matt Carey sold 56,008 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.18, for a total transaction of $19,332,841.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,503,123.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Home Depot Price Performance

NYSE HD opened at $333.64 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $338.48 and its 200 day moving average is $352.30. The Home Depot, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $274.26 and a fifty-two week high of $396.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.11, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $330.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.98.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 14th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.61 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $36.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.65 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.79% and a return on equity of 1,056.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th were paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 30th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on HD. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $410.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Home Depot from $440.00 to $420.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. DA Davidson raised shares of Home Depot from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $352.00 to $395.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $360.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $378.42.

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.