Home Depot (NYSE:HD) Raised to "Buy" at StockNews.com

Home Depot (NYSE:HD - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Friday.

HD has been the topic of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Zelman & Associates upgraded Home Depot from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer downgraded Home Depot from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Citigroup dropped their target price on Home Depot from $415.00 to $395.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated a "market perform" rating and set a $360.00 target price on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $377.46.

Home Depot Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of HD traded up $1.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $344.21. 2,739,006 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,515,366. Home Depot has a 12 month low of $274.26 and a 12 month high of $396.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.11, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market cap of $341.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.01. The stock's 50-day moving average is $354.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $346.17.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 14th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.61 by $0.02. Home Depot had a return on equity of 1,056.67% and a net margin of 9.79%. The firm had revenue of $36.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.65 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.82 EPS. Home Depot's quarterly revenue was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Home Depot will post 15.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total value of $3,317,185.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 75,799 shares in the company, valued at $27,950,123.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Home Depot news, EVP Timothy A. Hourigan sold 8,996 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.74, for a total transaction of $3,317,185.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 75,799 shares of the company's stock, valued at $27,950,123.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward P. Decker sold 35,987 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $368.63, for a total value of $13,265,887.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 107,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,712,878.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Home Depot

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HD. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Home Depot during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Home Depot by 53.3% in the fourth quarter. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 92 shares of the home improvement retailer's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new stake in Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.86% of the company's stock.

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.