Dow Today: Pfizer (PFE) Leads The Day Higher, Home Depot (HD) Lags

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) is trading down 24.0 points (-0.2%) at 13,049 as of Tuesday, Jul 31, 2012, 9:35 a.m. ET. During this time, 22.4 million shares of the 30 Dow components have changed hands vs. an average daily trading volume of 685.1 million. The NYSE advances/declines ratio sits at 1,598 issues advancing vs. 1,041 declining with 175 unchanged.

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The Dow component leading the way higher looks to be Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), which is sporting a 35-cent gain (+1.5%) bringing the stock to $24.06. Volume for Pfizer currently sits at 4.7 million shares traded vs. an average daily trading volume of 35.9 million shares.

Pfizer has a market cap of $178.4 billion and is part of the health care sector and drugs industry. Shares are up 9.6% year to date as of Monday's close. The stock's dividend yield sits at 3.7%.

Pfizer Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and sale of medicines for people and animals worldwide. The company has a P/E ratio of 22.3, above the average drugs industry P/E ratio of 19.1 and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7.

TheStreet Ratings rates Pfizer as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its expanding profit margins, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, notable return on equity and solid stock price performance. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income.

• You can view the full Pfizer Ratings Report.

Holding back the Dow today is Home Depot (NYSE:HD), which is lagging the broader Dow index with a 90-cent decline (-1.7%) bringing the stock to $52.34. This single loss is lowering the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 6.81 points or roughly accounting for 28.4% of the Dow's overall loss. Volume for Home Depot currently sits at 563,158 shares traded vs. an average daily trading volume of 12.1 million shares.

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Home Depot has a market cap of $82.21 billion and is part of the services sector and retail industry. Shares are up 26.7% year to date as of Monday's close. The stock's dividend yield sits at 2.2%.

The Home Depot, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a home improvement retailer. The company's stores sell building materials, and home improvement and lawn and garden products to do-it-yourself, do-it-for-me (at D-I-F-M), and professional customers. The company has a P/E ratio of 20.3, equal to the average retail industry P/E ratio and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7.

TheStreet Ratings rates Home Depot as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income, revenue growth and notable return on equity. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had generally poor debt management on most measures that we evaluated.

• You can view the full Home Depot Ratings Report.

For more information on Home Depot Inc. click any of the following:

• Home Depot Inc. Stock Price

• Home Depot Inc. Analyst Ratings

• Home Depot Inc. Key Stats & Profile

• Home Depot Inc. Earnings

• Home Depot Inc. Ratio Comparison

• Home Depot Inc. Growth Rates

• Home Depot Inc. Balance Sheet

• Home Depot Inc. Cash Flow

• Home Depot Inc. Income Statement