Forestar Group Inc. (NYSE:FOR) Short Interest Up 28.0% in December

Forestar Group Inc. (NYSE:FOR) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 404,000 shares, a growth of 28.0% from the December 15th total of 315,700 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 126,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Forestar Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Eagle Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Forestar Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,592,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Forestar Group by 9.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,438,669 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $78,012,000 after buying an additional 201,032 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Forestar Group by 22.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 461,388 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $14,760,000 after buying an additional 84,861 shares during the period. Woodson Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Forestar Group by 12.0% during the third quarter. Woodson Capital Management LP now owns 560,000 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $18,127,000 after buying an additional 60,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moody Aldrich Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Forestar Group by 27.2% during the third quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 216,354 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $7,003,000 after buying an additional 46,250 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.50% of the company’s stock.

Forestar Group Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE FOR traded down $0.46 on Friday, hitting $26.80. The stock had a trading volume of 161,634 shares, compared to its average volume of 121,565. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $27.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.08. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.68 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.61. Forestar Group has a 52-week low of $24.81 and a 52-week high of $40.92.

Forestar Group (NYSE:FOR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.29. Forestar Group had a return on equity of 13.59% and a net margin of 13.48%. The firm had revenue of $551.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $503.76 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Forestar Group will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Citigroup cut their target price on Forestar Group from $43.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th.

About Forestar Group

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.