Howard Hughes (NYSE:HHH) Shares Gap Up After Insider Buying Activity

Key Points

• Howard Hughes shares rose at the open after COO Andrew D. Davis bought 1,000 shares for $64,490, increasing his stake by 3.17%. The stock opened at $66.65, up from its prior close of $64.58.
• Analysts remain cautious but have improved their views: JPMorgan raised its price target to $79 while maintaining a neutral rating, and other firms upgraded the stock from sell or strong sell to hold. The consensus rating is Hold with a $79 target price.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $2.68, well above the $0.49 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $1.12 billion, up 330.2% year over year. Institutional investors own 93.83% of the stock.

Shares of Howard Hughes Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HHH - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Friday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $64.58, but opened at $66.65. Howard Hughes shares last traded at $65.8040, with a volume of 56,063 shares traded.

Specifically, COO Andrew D. Davis purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $64.49 per share, for a total transaction of $64,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 32,530 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,097,859.70. This trade represents a 3.17% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HHH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Howard Hughes from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Howard Hughes from a "sell (d)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Howard Hughes from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $79.00.

Howard Hughes Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $65.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 1.14.

Howard Hughes (NYSE:HHH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $2.19. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter. Howard Hughes had a return on equity of 7.51% and a net margin of 12.31%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 330.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.22) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Howard Hughes Holdings Inc. will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Howard Hughes

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HHH. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Howard Hughes by 8.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,822,522 shares of the company's stock worth $178,549,000 after acquiring an additional 208,617 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Howard Hughes in the 2nd quarter valued at about $115,766,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in Howard Hughes in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $71,691,000. Flat Footed LLC purchased a new position in Howard Hughes in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,353,683. Finally, Crcm LP boosted its holdings in shares of Howard Hughes by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Crcm LP now owns 612,839 shares of the company's stock worth $48,886,000 after purchasing an additional 52,126 shares during the last quarter. 93.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Howard Hughes Company Profile

Howard Hughes Holdings Inc is a real estate development and management company that creates and operates large-scale master planned communities, mixed-use properties and strategic real estate developments. Its activities include land development, homebuilder lot sales, commercial and multifamily development, retail operations and the management of community amenities and infrastructure.

The company's master planned communities include Summerlin in the Las Vegas area, The Woodlands and Bridgeland in the Houston area, The Woodlands Hills in Texas, Teravalis in the Phoenix area and Ward Village in Honolulu.

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