Home Depot Inc. Stock Buy Recommendation Reiterated (HD)

Editor's Note: TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Home Depot (NYSE:HD) has been reiterated by TheStreet Ratings as a buy with a ratings score of A+ . 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.

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Highlights from the ratings report include:

• Powered by its strong earnings growth of 36.00% and other important driving factors, this stock has surged by 56.58% over the past year, outperforming the rise in the S&P 500 Index during the same period. Regarding the stock's future course, although almost any stock can fall in a broad market decline, HD should continue to move higher despite the fact that it has already enjoyed a very nice gain in the past year.
• HOME DEPOT INC has improved earnings per share by 36.0% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, HOME DEPOT INC increased its bottom line by earning $2.46 versus $2.02 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($2.92 versus $2.46).
• The company, on the basis of net income growth from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly outperformed against the S&P 500 and exceeded that of the Specialty Retail industry average. The net income increased by 27.5% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from $812.00 million to $1,035.00 million.
• Despite its growing revenue, the company underperformed as compared with the industry average of 9.7%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 5.8%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.
• The return on equity has improved slightly when compared to the same quarter one year prior. This can be construed as a modest strength in the organization. Compared to other companies in the Specialty Retail industry and the overall market, HOME DEPOT INC's return on equity exceeds that of both the industry average and the S&P 500.

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 19.7, below the average retail industry P/E ratio of 20 and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Home Depot has a market cap of $80.8 billion and is part of the services sector and retail industry. Shares are up 30.1% year to date as of the close of trading on Thursday.

You can view the full Home Depot Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.

--Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff.

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