Hennessy Advisors Inc. Increases Position in The Home Depot, Inc. $HD

Key Points

• Hennessy Advisors increased its stake in The Home Depot by 32.2% in Q4, adding 4,250 shares to hold 17,450 shares valued at about $6.005 million.
• Home Depot beat Q4 EPS estimates with $2.72 (vs. $2.52 expected) while revenue fell 3.8% YoY to $38.20 billion; the company set FY2026 EPS guidance of 14.230–14.799 and analysts project roughly $15.03 EPS for the year.
• The board raised the quarterly dividend to $2.33 (annualized $9.32) for a ~2.7% yield, and analysts maintain a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with an average price target near $414.17.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD - Free Report) by 32.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,450 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 4,250 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Home Depot were worth $6,005,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Home Depot by 0.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 98,310,031 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $39,834,241,000 after purchasing an additional 331,217 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Home Depot by 0.3% in the third quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,400,133 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $4,619,229,000 after purchasing an additional 30,739 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Home Depot by 60.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,143,089 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $4,109,878,000 after purchasing an additional 3,836,051 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Home Depot by 2.0% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 10,130,293 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $4,104,694,000 after purchasing an additional 197,211 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Home Depot by 1.9% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,181,165 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $2,504,546,000 after purchasing an additional 116,875 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company's stock.

Home Depot Stock Up 0.4%

Home Depot stock opened at $350.92 on Tuesday. The Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $315.31 and a twelve month high of $426.75. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $351.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $361.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $349.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 1.09.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The home improvement retailer reported $2.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.20. Home Depot had a return on equity of 134.32% and a net margin of 8.60%.The business had revenue of $38.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.13 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Home Depot has set its FY 2026 guidance at 14.230-14.799 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 12th were given a dividend of $2.33 per share. This is an increase from Home Depot's previous quarterly dividend of $2.30. This represents a $9.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 12th. Home Depot's dividend payout ratio is currently 65.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Daiwa Securities Group boosted their target price on Home Depot from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Evercore cut their target price on Home Depot from $425.00 to $415.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Home Depot from $441.00 to $422.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Home Depot from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $414.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Home Depot

In other news, CFO Richard V. Mcphail sold 2,550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.89, for a total transaction of $940,669.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 44,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,439,951.74. This represents a 5.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Home Depot Profile

The Home Depot, Inc NYSE: HD is a leading home improvement retailer that operates large-format stores and an integrated online platform offering a broad range of products and services for do-it-yourself consumers, professional contractors and businesses. The company was founded in 1978 by Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Since opening its first stores at the end of the 1970s, Home Depot has grown into a multinational retailer known for its orange-branded stores and wide assortment of home improvement merchandise.

Home Depot's core business includes the sale of building materials, lumber, tools, hardware, appliances, paint, plumbing and electrical supplies, lawn and garden products, and home décor.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HD? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.