Home Depot (NYSE:HD) closed at $204.74 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.37% move from the prior day. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's 0.95% loss on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.67%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.51%.
Heading into today, shares of the home-improvement retailer had gained 6.15% over the past month, outpacing the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 5.58% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.32% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from HD as it approaches its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect HD to post earnings of $3.09 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 1.31%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $30.97 billion, up 1.65% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $10.10 per share and revenue of $111.28 billion. These totals would mark changes of +2.12% and +2.84%, respectively, from last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for HD should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.01% lower. HD is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, HD is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 20.35. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 12.52, which means HD is trading at a premium to the group.
It is also worth noting that HD currently has a PEG ratio of 1.9. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Building Products - Retail industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.26 as of yesterday's close.
The Building Products - Retail industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 72, which puts it in the top 29% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
The Home Depot, Inc. (HD): Free Stock Analysis Report
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