D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE:DHI) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $196.00 to $215.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. D.R. Horton traded as high as $199.40 and last traded at $196.27, with a volume of 54030 shares. The stock had previously closed at $194.19.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup downgraded D.R. Horton from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $181.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of D.R. Horton from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com cut shares of D.R. Horton from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of D.R. Horton from $163.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price objective on D.R. Horton from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $183.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On D.R. Horton

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bfsg LLC boosted its stake in D.R. Horton by 70.5% during the second quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 179 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of D.R. Horton in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. RiverPark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of D.R. Horton during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in D.R. Horton in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in D.R. Horton in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 90.63% of the company’s stock.

D.R. Horton Trading Down 2.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $63.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.73. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $180.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 7.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The construction company reported $4.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.75 by $0.35. D.R. Horton had a return on equity of 20.72% and a net margin of 13.36%. The company had revenue of $9.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.90 EPS. D.R. Horton’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that D.R. Horton, Inc. will post 14.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

D.R. Horton Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. D.R. Horton’s payout ratio is 8.17%.

D.R. Horton declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, July 18th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to repurchase up to 6.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About D.R. Horton

D.R. Horton, Inc operates as a homebuilding company in East, North, Southeast, South Central, Southwest, and Northwest regions in the United States. It engages in the acquisition and development of land; and construction and sale of residential homes in 118 markets across 33 states under the names of D.R.