Forestar Group (NYSE:FOR) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Forestar Group Inc (NYSE:FOR)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $25.21, but opened at $24.43. Forestar Group shares last traded at $24.27, with a volume of 1,231 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FOR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Forestar Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. JMP Securities set a $35.00 price target on shares of Forestar Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Forestar Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Forestar Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Finally, Citizens Jmp increased their target price on shares of Forestar Group from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Forestar Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.00.

Forestar Group Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of 7.39 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.33.

Forestar Group (NYSE:FOR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.53. The business had revenue of $670.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $556.59 million. Forestar Group had a net margin of 10.11% and a return on equity of 10.08%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Forestar Group Inc will post 3.44 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FOR. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Forestar Group by 4.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,769,594 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $73,644,000 after buying an additional 110,286 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Forestar Group by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,759,879 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $73,385,000 after acquiring an additional 14,641 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Forestar Group by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 702,223 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $18,672,000 after acquiring an additional 36,626 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Forestar Group by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 537,269 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $14,286,000 after acquiring an additional 17,000 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Forestar Group by 232.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 529,863 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $10,597,000 after acquiring an additional 370,685 shares during the period. 35.50% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.