Home Depot Stock (NYSE:HD) Plunges as Loss Prevention Gets a Workout

Home improvement giant Home Depot HD -2.92% ▼ has often had troubles with shoplifters, but this weekend proved to be a big weekend for loss prevention in other ways. First, word emerged of a woman who had conducted over 1,700 fraudulent returns. This was followed up by a man who threatened Home Depot Pro loss prevention staff with an axe and a quiet burial. This combination of factors hit Home Depot oddly hard, sending shares down nearly 3% in Monday morning’s trading.

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The first case took us to Ohio, where Tracy A. James used a combination of counterfeit driver’s licenses and a series of aliases to stage over 1,700 fraudulent returns for store credit. That was the word from prosecutors in Medina County, reports noted. Further reports noted that the returns took place over several years at multiple locations throughout the Home Depot ecosystem.

The multi-year scheme produced $266,699 in fraudulent store credit, reports noted, which James would then use to buy products for resale online. James was ordered to pay restitution for the full amount, and was also sentenced to 180 days in jail, 100 hours of community service, and five years of “community control supervision.” Just how James was finally caught is unclear, however.

Axe Crazy

Meanwhile, out in South San Francisco, loss prevention units got a hair-raising workout of their own as a man threatened a security guard connected with Home Depot Pro. The incident in question took place over a week ago, but today, the man involved faces criminal charges.

The man in question, while at the Home Depot location, threatened the security guard, stating he would “…beat him…” with an axe, and then, “bury” him. The charged man apparently even had the axe on hand when he issued the threat to the security guard. Apparently, this was not threat enough, as the man also threatened to find the officer after work, and then, harm him in less specific but likely no less terrifying ways. The man was subsequently booked into San Mateo County Jail on charges of making criminal threats.

Is Home Depot a Good Long-Term Buy?

Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on HD stock based on 17 Buys and three Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 4.47% loss in its share price over the past year, the average HD price target of $422.47 per share implies 21.31% upside potential.

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