Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE:HOV) Issues Earnings Results

Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE:HOV) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The construction company reported ($0.70) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.56) by ($0.14), RTT News reports. The firm had revenue of $705.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $723.50 million. Hovnanian Enterprises had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 1.25%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.99 EPS.

Hovnanian Enterprises Price Performance

Shares of HOV stock traded down $15.68 on Thursday, hitting $112.00. 37,433 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 117,131. The firm has a market cap of $656.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.68 and a beta of 1.83. Hovnanian Enterprises has a 52 week low of $91.52 and a 52 week high of $162.05. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $131.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $119.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hovnanian Enterprises

In other Hovnanian Enterprises news, Director J Larry Sorsby sold 1,032 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.57, for a total value of $147,132.24. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 187,416 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,719,899.12. This represents a 0.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ara K. Hovnanian sold 12,880 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.78, for a total value of $1,620,046.40. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 22.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hovnanian Enterprises

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Hovnanian Enterprises by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,242 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,682,000 after buying an additional 1,368 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hovnanian Enterprises by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,912 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,868,000 after purchasing an additional 7,829 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd increased its position in Hovnanian Enterprises by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 3,663 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Hovnanian Enterprises during the fourth quarter valued at $1,141,000. Finally, Man Group plc purchased a new stake in shares of Hovnanian Enterprises during the 4th quarter valued at about $331,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Hovnanian Enterprises from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $97.00.

About Hovnanian Enterprises

Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc is a publicly traded homebuilding company primarily engaged in the acquisition, development and construction of residential properties. Headquartered in Red Bank, New Jersey, the company operates through a network of regional homebuilding divisions that design and deliver a range of housing solutions, including single-family detached homes, townhomes and condominiums. Hovnanian combines land development, architectural design and construction services with in-house mortgage and insurance offerings to provide a comprehensive homebuying experience.

The company markets its communities under several branded product lines tailored to different buyer segments and price points.