D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE:DHI) Short Interest Up 12.4% in September

D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE:DHI) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,510,000 shares, an increase of 12.4% from the August 31st total of 4,900,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,510,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on DHI shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of D.R. Horton from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America upped their price objective on D.R. Horton from $196.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on D.R. Horton from $191.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on D.R. Horton from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of D.R. Horton from $200.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $183.33.

D.R. Horton Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DHI traded up $0.96 on Tuesday, reaching $191.73. 724,081 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,473,050. D.R. Horton has a twelve month low of $100.08 and a twelve month high of $199.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $183.62 and a 200-day moving average of $161.01. The company has a market capitalization of $63.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a current ratio of 7.22, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

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

D.R. Horton announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, July 18th that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to purchase up to 6.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

D.R. Horton Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On D.R. Horton

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of D.R. Horton by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,856,397 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,735,620,000 after buying an additional 2,474,262 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of D.R. Horton by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 3,669,893 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $517,198,000 after purchasing an additional 81,900 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of D.R. Horton by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,064,149 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $290,901,000 after purchasing an additional 9,137 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in D.R. Horton by 51.2% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,657,028 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $233,525,000 after purchasing an additional 561,337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in D.R. Horton by 62.4% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,367,704 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $207,864,000 after purchasing an additional 525,705 shares during the last quarter. 90.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.