Forestar Group (NYSE:FOR) Issues Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.15 EPS

Key Points

• Forestar Group reported quarterly earnings of $0.70 per share, missing analyst expectations of $0.85 by $0.15. The result was still slightly above the $0.65 per share it earned in the same quarter last year.
• The stock fell 5.7% after the report, opening at $28.18, with a market cap of about $1.44 billion and a P/E ratio of 8.59.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $32.67. Zacks Research downgraded the stock to Hold, while two analysts rate it Buy and four rate it Hold.

Forestar Group (NYSE:FOR - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.15), RTT News reports. Forestar Group had a net margin of 9.80% and a return on equity of 9.49%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share.

Forestar Group Trading Down 5.7%

NYSE:FOR opened at $28.18 on Tuesday. Forestar Group has a one year low of $21.77 and a one year high of $32.06. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $28.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.59 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on FOR. Zacks Research lowered shares of Forestar Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Forestar Group from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of 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 issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.67.

Institutional Trading of Forestar Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Forestar Group in the 4th quarter worth about $225,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Forestar Group by 367.2% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 17,166 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 13,492 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Forestar Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $266,000. SummitTX Capital L.P. raised its holdings in Forestar Group by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 170,822 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $4,207,000 after buying an additional 16,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Forestar Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $207,000. Hedge funds and other 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.

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