Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. Takes $263,000 Position in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Key Points

• Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. has acquired a new stake in The Home Depot, Inc., purchasing 718 shares valued at approximately $263,000.
• Recent research reports show a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Home Depot, with an average target price of $426.77.
• The company reported earnings of $3.56 per share, slightly missing estimates, but achieved a revenue of $39.86 billion, surpassing expectations.

Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 718 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in HD. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV boosted its stake in shares of Home Depot by 99,400.7% in the 1st quarter. Asset Planning Services Inc. LA ADV now owns 18,975,772 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $6,954,431,000 after purchasing an additional 18,956,701 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth $5,032,910,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Home Depot by 39,194.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,236,903 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $37,517,230,000 after acquiring an additional 10,210,851 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Home Depot by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,149,890 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $4,726,186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth $471,189,000. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Fahim Siddiqui sold 2,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.14, for a total transaction of $954,564.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 7,951 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,919,130.14. The trade was a 24.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Teresa Wynn Roseborough sold 5,406 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $369.28, for a total transaction of $1,996,327.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 17,367 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,413,285.76. This represents a 23.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on HD. Wells Fargo & Company set a $420.00 target price on shares of Home Depot and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $398.00 target price (up from $380.00) on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $424.00 to $399.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Home Depot from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $405.00 to $425.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $410.00 to $418.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $426.77.

Home Depot Stock Performance

Shares of HD stock traded down $0.93 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $376.30. 1,270,444 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,539,895. The company has a market capitalization of $374.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.53, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.95. The firm's 50-day moving average is $365.55 and its 200 day moving average is $373.66. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 1 year low of $326.31 and a 1 year high of $439.37.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.59 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $39.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $39.24 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 242.51%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $2.30 per share. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 5th. Home Depot's payout ratio is currently 62.42%.

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.