Home Depot (NYSE:HD) may be seeing some private equity interest according to reports on CNBC. There is speculation that the company could go for as much as $100 billion, although many analysts remain skeptical. Charlie Gasparino reported that KKR has already crunched the numbers for a potential bid to take the company private, while there is also talk of other potential HD bidders on the floor. The interest comes after the stock has fallen from a high of nearly $45 in early 2006 to its current levels around $35 per share, down over 8% on the year.

Many attribute this drop to poor performance by the company's CEO Nardelli along with declining market conditions. Meanwhile, their main competitor - Lowes - has beat the company on almost every metric. Lowe's revenues grew 130% compared to HD's 78%; Lowe's ROA increased 52% while HD's hardly increased at all; and finally, Lowe's customer service rating rose to 78 from 75, while HD's decreased to 67 from 75 during the same time period. Combined, market conditions and poor management may have made this stock cheap enough for private equity to seriously consider. This makes Home Depot a stock to keep an eye on over the next few months.

Related Companies
Lowes Companies, Inc. (LOW)
Conn's Inc. (CONN)
Building Materials Holding Corporation (BMHC)