Guild (NYSE:GHLD) Sees Large Volume Increase

Guild Holdings (NYSE:GHLD) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Monday . Approximately 10,822 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 5% from the previous session’s volume of 10,351 shares.The stock last traded at $14.21 and had previously closed at $14.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GHLD shares. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Guild in a research note on Friday, May 10th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Guild from $14.00 to $16.50 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Guild from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.30.

Guild Stock Up 1.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $14.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.35. The company has a market cap of $881.46 million, a P/E ratio of 33.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.03.

Guild (NYSE:GHLD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.11). Guild had a net margin of 3.41% and a return on equity of 4.25%. The company had revenue of $231.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.77 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.04) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Guild Holdings will post 1.1 EPS for the current year.

Guild Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th.

Insider Activity

In other Guild news, Director Mary Ann Mcgarry purchased 4,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $16.12 per share, for a total transaction of $80,567.76. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 372,996 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,012,695.52. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Edward Bryant, Jr. sold 6,000 shares of Guild stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.01, for a total transaction of $84,060.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 26,816 shares in the company, valued at $375,692.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Ann Mcgarry purchased 4,998 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $16.12 per share, for a total transaction of $80,567.76. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 372,996 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,012,695.52. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 13,370 shares of company stock worth $214,346 over the last 90 days. 77.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Guild

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. increased its position in Guild by 2.1% in the first quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 440,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,503,000 after buying an additional 9,126 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Guild by 8.2% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 237,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,508,000 after buying an additional 17,992 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Guild in the first quarter worth $149,000. 17.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Guild Company Profile

Guild Holdings Company originates, sells, and services residential mortgage loans in the United States. It operates in two segments, Origination and Servicing. The company offers residential mortgages through retail and correspondent channels. Guild Holdings Company was incorporated in 1960 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.