Howard Hughes (NYSE:HHH) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Downgrades: Wall Street Zen cut Howard Hughes (NYSE:HHH) from a "hold" to a "sell" and Weiss Ratings lowered it from "hold (c-)" to "sell (d+)," though the MarketBeat consensus rating remains "Hold" with a $83.33 price target.
• Weak quarterly results: The company reported $0.10 EPS versus a $0.31 consensus and revenue fell 36.5% year-over-year, down from $3.25 EPS in the prior-year quarter.
• Ownership activity: General Counsel Joseph Valane bought 1,260 shares recently, insiders own about 48%, and several institutions (including RBC, Millennium and Goldman) have materially increased their stakes.

Howard Hughes (NYSE:HHH - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Separately, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Howard Hughes from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $83.33.

Howard Hughes Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Howard Hughes stock opened at $64.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $67.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.14. Howard Hughes has a 1 year low of $61.01 and a 1 year high of $91.07. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of 30.41 and a beta of 1.28.

Howard Hughes (NYSE:HHH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $624.45 million for the quarter. Howard Hughes had a net margin of 8.40% and a return on equity of 5.54%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 36.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.25 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Howard Hughes will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Joseph Valane bought 1,260 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 48.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Howard Hughes

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HHH. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Howard Hughes in the fourth quarter valued at about $511,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Howard Hughes by 1,900.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 99,248 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,353,000 after purchasing an additional 94,287 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Howard Hughes by 2,368.8% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 165,926 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,292,000 after purchasing an additional 159,205 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Howard Hughes by 26.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 118,589 shares of the company's stock worth $8,785,000 after buying an additional 25,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new position in shares of Howard Hughes in the first quarter worth about $254,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.83% of the company's stock.

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.

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