Heartland Advisors Inc. Buys New Position in D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE:DHI)

Key Points

• Heartland Advisors Inc. has acquired 51,473 shares of D.R. Horton, Inc., valued at approximately $6.54 million, highlighting growing institutional interest in the homebuilding sector.
• D.R. Horton reported a quarterly EPS of $3.36, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.90, along with revenues of $9.23 billion, despite a year-over-year decline in revenue.
• Analyst ratings for D.R. Horton show mixed sentiments, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and target prices ranging from $125 to $187, reflecting concerns about demand and market conditions.

Heartland Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE:DHI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 51,473 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $6,544,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its holdings in shares of D.R. Horton by 1.0% during the first quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 58,597 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $7,449,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of D.R. Horton by 1.0% during the first quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 18,277 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,328,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. raised its position in D.R. Horton by 3.9% during the first quarter. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 51,397 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $6,534,000 after buying an additional 1,937 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in D.R. Horton by 4,630.6% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,691,056 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $214,984,000 after buying an additional 1,655,309 shares during the period. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in D.R. Horton during the first quarter valued at $2,657,000. 90.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael R. Buchanan sold 2,150 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.70, for a total transaction of $274,555.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,193 shares in the company, valued at approximately $280,046.10. This represents a 49.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on D.R. Horton from $132.00 to $111.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. JMP Securities dropped their price target on D.R. Horton from $210.00 to $180.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on D.R. Horton from $135.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on D.R. Horton from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on D.R. Horton from $176.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $153.23.

D.R. Horton Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of DHI traded down $0.95 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $146.40. 1,159,248 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,774,471. The company has a market cap of $43.64 billion, a PE ratio of 11.74, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.38. The firm's 50 day moving average is $128.93 and its 200-day moving average is $129.27. D.R. Horton, Inc. has a 52 week low of $110.44 and a 52 week high of $199.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 7.06.

D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The construction company reported $3.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $9.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.80 billion. D.R. Horton had a return on equity of 15.74% and a net margin of 11.46%. The firm's revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.10 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that D.R. Horton, Inc. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

D.R. Horton Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. D.R. Horton's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.83%.

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.