Forestar Group (NYSE:FOR) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

Forestar Group (NYSE:FOR) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Forestar Group from $30.00 to $33.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.50.

Forestar Group Price Performance

Forestar Group stock traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $40.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 348,730 shares, compared to its average volume of 206,990. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $34.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.06. Forestar Group has a 12 month low of $14.50 and a 12 month high of $40.92. The company has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a PE ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 1.69.

Forestar Group (NYSE:FOR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.20. Forestar Group had a net margin of 12.08% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The firm had revenue of $305.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $273.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Forestar Group will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Forestar Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FOR. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Forestar Group by 7.6% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 41,017 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $728,000 after buying an additional 2,900 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Forestar Group by 67.3% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 78,489 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,395,000 after buying an additional 31,567 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Forestar Group by 5.7% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 104,101 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,849,000 after buying an additional 5,604 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Forestar Group by 55.1% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 45,703 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $812,000 after buying an additional 16,240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Forestar Group by 56.8% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 10,949 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $194,000 after buying an additional 3,966 shares in the last quarter. 35.50% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Forestar Group Company Profile

Forestar Group Inc operates as a residential lot development company in the United States. The company acquires land and develops infrastructure for single-family residential communities. It sells its residential single-family finished lots to local, regional, and national homebuilders. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Arlington, Texas.