Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 141,915 Shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

by · The Markets Daily

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD – Free Report) by 10.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,471,223 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 141,915 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.15% of Home Depot worth $596,140,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in shares of Home Depot by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 16,352 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock valued at $6,626,000 after acquiring an additional 797 shares during the last quarter. BNC Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Home Depot by 2.6% in the third quarter. BNC Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,006 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,028,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp lifted its position in Home Depot by 6.3% in the third quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 27,723 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $11,233,000 after buying an additional 1,655 shares during the last quarter. Vickerman Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Home Depot by 0.7% in the third quarter. Vickerman Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,024 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $2,846,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GGM Financials LLC bought a new stake in Home Depot in the third quarter worth $300,000. 70.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson raised their price target on Home Depot from $430.00 to $466.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Daiwa America upgraded Home Depot to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Home Depot from $377.00 to $363.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Home Depot from $380.00 to $375.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on Home Depot from $390.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $416.37.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on Home Depot

Home Depot Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of HD stock opened at $388.19 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.74. The Home Depot, Inc. has a twelve month low of $286.79 and a twelve month high of $421.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $393.80 and a 200 day moving average of $363.10. The stock has a market cap of $385.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.01.

Home Depot (NYSE:HD – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The home improvement retailer reported $4.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.59 by $0.08. Home Depot had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 733.61%. The firm had revenue of $43.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.65 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Home Depot, Inc. will post 15.01 EPS for the current year.

Home Depot Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were given a $2.25 dividend. This represents a $9.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 29th. Home Depot’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.57%.

Home Depot Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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