Capital International Investors Buys 8,443 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,314,198 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,443 shares during the quarter. Capital International Investors’ holdings in Home Depot were worth $1,678,180,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alexis Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Home Depot in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,311,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Home Depot in the fourth quarter worth $1,056,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in Home Depot by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 1,461,874 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $568,631,000 after purchasing an additional 118,182 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Home Depot by 59.0% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,164,342 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $452,917,000 after buying an additional 431,840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at $778,000. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Home Depot Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:HD opened at $354.85 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 stock has a market cap of $352.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.11, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50 day moving average of $370.53 and a 200-day moving average of $394.69. The Home Depot, Inc. has a one year low of $323.77 and a one year high of $439.37.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $2.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on HD. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Home Depot from $435.00 to $418.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Home Depot from $437.00 to $391.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. HSBC raised Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $356.00 to $410.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Home Depot from $431.00 to $424.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Home Depot presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $434.08.

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.