Home Depot (NYSE:HD) stock is trading modestly higher in early New York trading on Thursday after several bullish moves by sell-side analysts.
Barclays analysts upgraded the rating on shares to Overweight as they lean more positively on Home Improvement over the next 12-24 months.
“We upgraded HD to OW as we look for exposure to housing and potentially strengthening home prices as rates reverse. Our macro model supports improving comps through 2024 and into 2025, and we like that consensus expectations are relatively muted for 2025,” analysts said in a note.
Elsewhere, Wells Fargo analysts named HD stock as their Top Pick for 2024. The analysts also raised the price target to $385 per share.
They are citing growth/recovery levers, margin recapture, and idiosyncratic Pro opportunity.
“Rates are falling & shares have ripped, but we believe Street estimates are too high for much of our retail coverage, and 1H choppiness seems warranted. In this scenario, we prefer defensive (ORLY, AZO) and quality names (HD),” they said.
“We like the HD setup in both bull/bear case industry scenarios, moving it to the top of our Hardlines pecking order.”