The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) Increases Dividend to $2.30 Per Share

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 25th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of 2.30 per share by the home improvement retailer on Thursday, March 27th. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. This is a positive change from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25.

Home Depot has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.9% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Home Depot has a payout ratio of 52.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Home Depot to earn $15.60 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $9.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.7%.

Home Depot Price Performance

NYSE:HD opened at $393.15 on Wednesday. Home Depot has a one year low of $323.77 and a one year high of $439.37. The stock has a market cap of $390.54 billion, a PE ratio of 26.68, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $401.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $398.48.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The home improvement retailer reported $3.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by $0.09. Home Depot had a return on equity of 452.60% and a net margin of 9.45%. The business had revenue of $39.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.82 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Home Depot will post 15.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Home Depot from $425.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Home Depot from $363.00 to $413.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on Home Depot from $372.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Home Depot from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Home Depot from $440.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Home Depot currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $435.92.

Home Depot Company 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.