National Pension Service Increases Stake in D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE:DHI)

National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE:DHI) by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,108,703 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,971 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in D.R. Horton were worth $211,507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in 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 valued at $5,735,620,000 after purchasing an additional 2,474,262 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. grew its position in D.R. Horton by 2.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in 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. grew 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 valued at $233,525,000 after purchasing an additional 561,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in D.R. Horton by 1,761.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,043,909 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $147,118,000 after purchasing an additional 987,834 shares during the last quarter. 90.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

D.R. Horton Trading Up 3.2 %

D.R. Horton stock opened at $172.96 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $186.47 and a 200 day moving average of $165.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.74. D.R. Horton, Inc. has a 12-month low of $116.22 and a 12-month high of $199.85. The company has a current ratio of 7.32, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.17 by ($0.25). D.R. Horton had a return on equity of 19.24% and a net margin of 12.93%. The firm had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that D.R. Horton, Inc. will post 15.74 earnings per share for the current year.

D.R. Horton Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from D.R. Horton’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. D.R. Horton’s payout ratio is currently 11.14%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on DHI shares. BTIG Research lowered their target price on shares of D.R. Horton from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of D.R. Horton from $180.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Wedbush upgraded shares of D.R. Horton from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $165.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of D.R. Horton from $154.00 to $145.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of D.R. Horton from $178.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, D.R. Horton has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.87.

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.