GWN Securities Inc. Purchases New Stake in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

GWN Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 9,766 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $4,045,000. Home Depot makes up about 1.1% of GWN Securities Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. POM Investment Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Home Depot by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 2,117 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. raised its stake in Home Depot by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 4,653 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,810,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC lifted its holdings in Home Depot by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 1,246 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 1,108 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Live Oak Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,915 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $1,912,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on HD shares. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Home Depot from $455.00 to $435.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, KGI Securities raised Home Depot to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $436.50.

Home Depot Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of HD opened at $351.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1-year low of $323.77 and a 1-year high of $439.37. The stock has a market cap of $348.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $397.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $399.44.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.04 by $0.09. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The company had revenue of $39.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.82 earnings per share. Home Depot’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $2.30 dividend. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio is 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.