Home Depot has bucked a broader retail trend of disappointing holiday quarter sales as customers spend more on big-ticket items such as home improvement and automobiles, instead of discretionary items such as apparel. Jefferies Group analyst D. Binder now forecasts that the firm will earn $1.35 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $1.38. The company has a market cap of $152.67 billion.
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In analysts report sent to investors by Jefferies & Co on Friday morning, The Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) had its PT lowered to $140.00. Revenue grew 9.5% to $20.98 billion. Lower gasoline prices have resulted in higher spending on home furnishings, which has bolstered the company’s top-line growth over the past three quarters of 2015.
Shares of Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) traded up 1.616% during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $124.835. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $6.12-6.18 for the period, compared to the Thomson Reuters consensus earnings per share estimate of $6.15, Marketbeat.com reports. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Home Depot in a research report on Tuesday, December 8th.
Home Depot (NYSE:HD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 23rd. The consensus target from the 13 analysts providing projections now stands at $139.307. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 10th will be given a $0.69 dividend. The company announced that it is planning to hire 80,000 new people to fill various positions at its stores and distribution centers. On Dec 11, 2015, Gerard J Arpey (director) purchased 1,000 shares at $134.13 per share price, according to the Form-4 filing with the securities and exchange commission. On a per-share basis, earnings rose to $1.17 from $1.05 a year earlier.
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Two Creeks Capital Management Lp holds 25.37% of its portfolio in Home Depot Inc for 2.17 million shares. Accredited Investors now owns 3,276 shares of the home improvement retailer’s stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. As customers undertook home improvement projects, it immensely drove the store traffic during holiday season.
