Heartland Advisors Inc. Raises Stake in Forestar Group Inc. (NYSE:FOR)

Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Forestar Group Inc. (NYSE:FOR) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 392,600 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,600 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Forestar Group were worth $10,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Forestar Group by 26.4% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 479,669 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $12,433,000 after purchasing an additional 100,100 shares in the last quarter. Woodson Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Forestar Group by 12.0% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Forestar Group by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 584,222 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $15,143,000 after buying an additional 59,427 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Forestar Group by 77.3% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 134,238 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $3,479,000 after buying an additional 58,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Forestar Group during the fourth quarter valued at $1,296,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on FOR shares. Citigroup cut their price objective on Forestar Group from $39.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Forestar Group from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Forestar Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th.

Forestar Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FOR opened at $21.75 on Friday. Forestar Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.70 and a 52 week high of $40.92. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $22.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.75.

Forestar Group (NYSE:FOR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.65 by ($0.33). Forestar Group had a net margin of 12.50% and a return on equity of 11.74%. The company had revenue of $250.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $318.00 million. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Forestar Group Inc. will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Forestar Group news, CEO Anthony W. Oxley purchased 4,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $23.14 per share, for a total transaction of $99,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 4,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,502. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.40% of the company’s stock.

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.