Howard Hughes Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HHH) Short Interest Up 22.2% in March

Howard Hughes Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HHH) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,944,737 shares, a growth of 22.2% from the March 15th total of 2,408,784 shares. Currently, 9.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 529,832 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.6 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings cut Howard Hughes from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Joseph Valane bought 1,260 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $64.45 per share, for a total transaction of $81,207.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 29,209 shares in the company, valued at $1,882,520.05. This trade represents a 4.51% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 48.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Howard Hughes

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HHH. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Howard Hughes by 41.5% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Howard Hughes by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 9,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Howard Hughes by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 27,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,169,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Howard Hughes by 28.9% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Howard Hughes by 37.2% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.83% of the company’s stock.

Howard Hughes Price Performance

NYSE HHH traded up $1.21 on Friday, reaching $65.97. 321,342 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 401,978. The stock has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a PE ratio of 31.27 and a beta of 1.28. Howard Hughes has a 12 month low of $61.01 and a 12 month high of $91.07. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Howard Hughes (NYSE:HHH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $624.45 million during the quarter. Howard Hughes had a return on equity of 5.54% and a net margin of 8.40%.The business’s revenue was down 36.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.25 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Howard Hughes will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Howard Hughes Company Profile

Howard Hughes Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a real estate development company in the United States. It operates in four segments: Operating Assets; Master Planned Communities (MPCs); Seaport; and Strategic Developments. The Operating Assets segment consists of developed or acquired retail, office, and multi-family properties along with other retail investments. Its MPCs segment develops, sells, and leases residential and commercial land designated for long-term community development projects in and around Las Vegas, Nevada; Houston, Texas; and Phoenix, Arizona.