Forestar Group (NYSE:FOR) Shares Down 5.7% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Forestar Group Inc (NYSE:FOR) were down 5.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $28.25 and last traded at $28.2050. 91,518 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 40% from the average session volume of 152,468 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.90.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research lowered Forestar Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Forestar Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, BTIG Research started coverage on Forestar Group in a research note on Monday, March 30th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Forestar Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.67.

Forestar Group Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a PE ratio of 8.63 and a beta of 1.39. The business’s 50-day moving average is $28.70 and its 200 day moving average is $27.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Forestar Group (NYSE:FOR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.72 by ($0.09). Forestar Group had a net margin of 9.80% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The business had revenue of $374.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $372.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.62 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Forestar Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FOR. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Forestar Group by 232.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 529,863 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $10,597,000 after acquiring an additional 370,685 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Forestar Group by 50.8% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 489,230 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $10,342,000 after purchasing an additional 164,753 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new position in Forestar Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,845,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in Forestar Group by 235.3% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 159,053 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $4,229,000 after purchasing an additional 111,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Forestar Group by 165.2% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 152,617 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $4,058,000 after purchasing an additional 95,065 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 35.50% of the company’s stock.

Forestar Group Company Profile

Forestar Group Inc, headquartered in Austin, Texas, is a residential lot development and management company focused on delivering finished home sites to homebuilders across the United States. The company acquires, entitles and develops land for single-family and multi-family housing, managing zoning, infrastructure and environmental approvals to prepare lots for construction. Forestar’s integrated approach to land development spans from initial site acquisition through final lot delivery, providing homebuilders with ready-to-build parcels in a variety of markets.

In addition to lot development, Forestar operates a retail homebuilding segment through joint ventures and strategic partnerships with national and regional homebuilders.