Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI)

D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE:DHI) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 22,793 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 177% compared to the typical volume of 8,227 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DHI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on D.R. Horton from $178.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of D.R. Horton from $163.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of D.R. Horton from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Wedbush raised shares of D.R. Horton from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on D.R. Horton from $220.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On D.R. Horton

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of D.R. Horton in the first quarter valued at about $1,249,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its position in D.R. Horton by 85.9% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 35,167 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,787,000 after purchasing an additional 16,252 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of D.R. Horton by 107.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 14,857 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,444,000 after buying an additional 7,699 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of D.R. Horton by 92.3% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 415,968 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $68,448,000 after buying an additional 199,668 shares during the period. Finally, Concord Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of D.R. Horton in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,161,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.63% of the company’s stock.

D.R. Horton Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of D.R. Horton stock opened at $167.61 on Friday. D.R. Horton has a 52-week low of $111.59 and a 52-week high of $199.85. The company has a 50 day moving average of $186.47 and a 200 day moving average of $165.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 7.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $54.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.72.

D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $3.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.17 by ($0.25). The business had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.22 billion. D.R. Horton had a return on equity of 19.24% and a net margin of 12.93%. D.R. Horton’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that D.R. Horton will post 15.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

D.R. Horton announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, July 18th that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to repurchase up to 6.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

D.R. Horton Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change from D.R. Horton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. D.R. Horton’s payout ratio is 8.36%.

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.