The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Short Interest Update

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,440,000 shares, an increase of 9.3% from the August 15th total of 9,550,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,380,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on HD. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $360.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Home Depot in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $426.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Home Depot from $380.00 to $375.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $395.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $377.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $389.04.

Home Depot Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE HD traded up $0.89 on Wednesday, hitting $384.13. The stock had a trading volume of 3,547,742 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,381,111. Home Depot has a 52-week low of $274.26 and a 52-week high of $396.87. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $363.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $354.13. 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 stock has a market cap of $380.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.00.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.59 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $43.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.57 billion. Home Depot had a return on equity of 681.27% and a net margin of 9.71%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.65 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Home Depot will post 15.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th were paid a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.36%.

Institutional Trading of Home Depot

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HD. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Home Depot during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new position in Home Depot during the first quarter valued at $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company’s stock.

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.