5 Best Recession-Proof Stocks to Buy in October

2. The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 80

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) is a home improvement retailer that sells a variety of building and other materials such as furnaces, countertops, central air systems, and flooring. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the United States.

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) earns most of its revenue from the home improvement sector, with close to 90% of its revenue coming from this segment. This is a crucial factor since a slowdown in the housing market will result in some of the spending drawdown redirected toward home improvement – by both homeowners and by landlords. The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) reported a whopping $44 billion in sales during its second quarter, which marked for a 6.5% growth at a time the housing market was beginning to slow down.

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) also pays a $1.9 dividend for a 2.66% yield. By the end of this year’s second quarter, 80 out of the 895 hedge funds polled by Insider Monkey had bought the company’s shares.

The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD)’s largest investor is Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management which owns 8.3 million shares that are worth $2.2 billion.

Diamond Hill Capital mentioned the company in its Q2 2022 investor letter. Here is what the fund said:

“The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) is a high-quality operator in the home improvement industry. Macroeconomic concerns, particularly the rise in mortgage rates, caused the share price to pull back and trade at a greater discount to our estimate of intrinsic value. We believe Home Depot is well positioned to continue gaining share due to its premium real estate locations, strong operations and recent investments in its supply chain. We like Home Depot’s exposure to the professional customer and believe in its ability to take market share in this segment as we believe home improvement spending has the potential to remain resilient in upcoming years.”