Home Depot Raises Dividend Following Record Earnings
Home Depot reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2015 results before markets opened Tuesday morning.
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2015 results before markets opened Tuesday. The home improvement retailer posted quarterly diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.17 and $21 billion in revenues. In the same period a year ago, the home improvement store reported EPS of $1.05 on revenue of $19.16 billion. Fourth-quarter results also compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for EPS of $1.10 and $20.39 billion in revenue.
For the full year, Home Depot reported EPS of $5.46 and revenues of $88.52 billion, compared with EPS of $4.71 and revenues of $83.18 billion in 2014. Analysts were looking for EPS of $5.34 and revenues of $88.14 billion.
Fourth-quarter same-store sales at all Home Depot locations rose 7.1% year over year and rose 8.9% in the United States.
Home Depot raised its dividend by 17% from a quarterly rate of $0.59 to a new rate of $0.69 per share. The company also reiterated its intent to repurchase $11 billion of its own stock by the end of fiscal year 2017.
The company presented its full-year guidance for the 2016 fiscal year. Home Depot expects sales to rise by 5.1% to 6.0% and same-store sales to rise by 3.7% to 4.5%. Diluted EPS after an expected $5 billion in share buybacks is projected to rise 12% to 13% to a range of $6.12 to $6.18. Gross margin is forecast to be flat and operating margin is forecast to improve by 0.7%.
[nativounit]
Home Depot noted that if currency exchange rates remain at current levels, net sales for 2016 would decline by $800 million and EPS would be lower by $0.06. The low end of the company’s estimates reflects this impact.
The consensus estimates for the first quarter call for $1.34 in EPS on sales of $22.17 billion. For the full year, analysts are looking for EPS of $6.16 on sales of $93.12 billion.
The company said its 2015 results include $128 million ($0.06 per share) in expenses related to the data breach the company suffered in September 2014. An expense of $9 million in the fourth quarter had no effect on EPS.
The stock traded up about 2.8% in Tuesday’s premarket, at $126.32 in a 52-week range of $92.17 to $135.47. The consensus price target on the stock is $140.81, and the highest target is $155.00.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.
He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.
