Short Interest in Forestar Group Inc (NYSE:FOR) Grows By 35.1%

Forestar Group Inc (NYSE:FOR) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 579,871 shares, an increase of 35.1% from the January 29th total of 429,159 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 200,629 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 200,629 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FOR has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Forestar Group from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on Forestar Group from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Forestar Group in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Forestar Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Forestar Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.75.

Forestar Group Stock Performance

NYSE:FOR traded up $0.45 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $27.91. The stock had a trading volume of 38,088 shares, compared to its average volume of 168,984. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.54 and a beta of 1.42. Forestar Group has a 52 week low of $18.00 and a 52 week high of $30.74.

Forestar Group (NYSE:FOR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $273.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $265.48 million. Forestar Group had a net margin of 9.90% and a return on equity of 9.76%. Forestar Group’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Forestar Group will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Forestar Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FOR. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Forestar Group by 1,206.6% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 993 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 917 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Forestar Group during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Forestar Group by 3,273.8% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,417 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,375 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank increased its position in shares of Forestar Group by 76.5% during the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 1,269 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of Forestar Group by 201.1% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,105 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 1,406 shares during the period. 35.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.