Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires 5,501 Shares of D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE:DHI)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE:DHI - Free Report) by 10.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,284 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 5,501 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in D.R. Horton were worth $10,328,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DHI. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in D.R. Horton in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $449,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in D.R. Horton by 631.9% in the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 849 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $140,000 after buying an additional 733 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC grew its holdings in D.R. Horton by 35.2% in the 1st quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 24,725 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $4,069,000 after buying an additional 6,435 shares during the last quarter. Concord Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in shares of D.R. Horton in the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,161,000. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in shares of D.R. Horton by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 15,799 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,600,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.63% of the company's stock.

D.R. Horton Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:DHI traded up $0.79 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $167.50. 993,495 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,510,877. The company has a market capitalization of $54.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 7.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company's 50 day moving average is $185.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $165.98. D.R. Horton, Inc. has a twelve month low of $120.10 and a twelve month high of $199.85.

D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 12.93% and a return on equity of 19.24%. The firm had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.45 EPS. D.R. Horton's revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that D.R. Horton, Inc. will post 15.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

D.R. Horton Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. This is an increase from D.R. Horton's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. D.R. Horton's payout ratio is 8.36%.

D.R. Horton announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, July 18th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to purchase up to 6.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on DHI shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on D.R. Horton from $218.00 to $204.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of D.R. Horton from $170.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. 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. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of D.R. Horton from $186.00 to $185.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on D.R. Horton from $217.00 to $214.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.