Cannell & Spears LLC Has $36.92 Million Holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Cannell & Spears LLC decreased its holdings in The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 94,914 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after selling 238 shares during the period. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in Home Depot were worth $36,921,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Summit Financial LLC grew its stake in Home Depot by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 24,129 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $9,386,000 after purchasing an additional 3,555 shares in the last quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Home Depot by 22.0% in the 4th quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 609 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in Home Depot by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 9,052,091 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $3,521,173,000 after purchasing an additional 468,203 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Home Depot by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 176,023 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $68,471,000 after purchasing an additional 17,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bcwm LLC bought a new position in shares of Home Depot in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,286,000. 70.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Home Depot Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE HD opened at $357.86 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.65. The company has a market cap of $355.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.09. The Home Depot, Inc. has a 12-month low of $323.77 and a 12-month high of $439.37. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $389.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $398.99.

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

Home Depot Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $2.30 dividend. This is a boost from Home Depot’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $9.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on HD shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Home Depot from $440.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Home Depot from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. HSBC raised Home Depot from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $356.00 to $410.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 price objective on shares of Home Depot in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, KGI Securities upgraded shares of Home Depot to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $435.85.

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.