The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Shares Purchased by Hancock Whitney Corp

Hancock Whitney Corp grew its holdings in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD - Free Report) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 84,056 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock after buying an additional 991 shares during the period. Home Depot accounts for about 1.0% of Hancock Whitney Corp's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Hancock Whitney Corp's holdings in Home Depot were worth $32,697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Empire Financial Management Company LLC increased its position in Home Depot by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 11,655 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $4,534,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 68,025 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $26,461,000 after buying an additional 18,363 shares during the last quarter. Burling Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Home Depot in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,934,000. Syon Capital LLC raised its stake in Home Depot by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 7,121 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $2,770,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Home Depot by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 25,894 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock worth $10,073,000 after purchasing an additional 3,147 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on HD shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $430.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $450.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. KGI Securities raised shares of Home Depot to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Home Depot from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $434.08.

Home Depot Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE HD traded down $2.16 on Monday, hitting $355.42. 830,701 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,454,580. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $363.97 and a 200 day moving average of $392.11. The Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $323.77 and a twelve month high of $439.37. The company has a market capitalization of $353.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $39.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.15 billion. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 452.60%. The firm's revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.82 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $2.30 dividend. This is an increase from Home Depot's previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. This represents a $9.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. Home Depot's payout ratio is presently 61.66%.

Home Depot 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.