Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Finance of America Companies (NYSE:FOA)

Finance of America Companies Inc. (NYSE:FOA) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors acquired 2,000 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,043% compared to the average volume of 175 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FOA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Finance of America Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 target price (up from $25.00) on shares of Finance of America Companies in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Alliance Global Partners began coverage on Finance of America Companies in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research lowered Finance of America Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Finance of America Companies from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Finance of America Companies has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.50.

Finance of America Companies Stock Down 1.5%

FOA stock opened at $14.89 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $257.71 million, a PE ratio of -4.95 and a beta of 1.65. Finance of America Companies has a 12 month low of $14.75 and a 12 month high of $29.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 60.78, a current ratio of 3.02 and a quick ratio of 3.02. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.41.

Finance of America Companies (NYSE:FOA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.20). Finance of America Companies had a negative net margin of 0.10% and a positive return on equity of 28.39%. The company had revenue of $62.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.94 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Finance of America Companies will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CIO Jeremy Prahm sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.82, for a total value of $100,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive owned 167,856 shares in the company, valued at $2,823,337.92. This represents a 3.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 26,250 shares of company stock valued at $535,470 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 35.37% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Finance of America Companies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in Finance of America Companies by 160.4% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 3,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 2,035 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Finance of America Companies during the first quarter valued at approximately $90,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Finance of America Companies by 43.7% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 17,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 5,236 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Finance of America Companies by 56.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 102,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,694,000 after buying an additional 36,929 shares during the period. Finally, Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Finance of America Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $2,325,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.20% of the company’s stock.

About Finance of America Companies

Finance of America Companies Inc (NYSE: FOA) is a financial services company focused on helping homeowners access and manage the value of their homes. The company’s primary business is its retirement solutions platform, which provides home-equity products designed to support financial planning and cash-flow needs for older homeowners.

Finance of America’s offerings include reverse mortgage products, including federally insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgages, as well as proprietary reverse mortgage solutions.