Towle & Co. Reduces Stock Holdings in Hovnanian Enterprises Inc $HOV

Towle & Co. lessened its position in shares of Hovnanian Enterprises Inc (NYSE:HOV) by 38.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,581 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 37,821 shares during the quarter. Hovnanian Enterprises makes up about 2.6% of Towle & Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Towle & Co. owned about 1.04% of Hovnanian Enterprises worth $6,830,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HOV. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Hovnanian Enterprises by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,979 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hovnanian Enterprises by 436.3% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 9,106 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $953,000 after purchasing an additional 7,408 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new stake in shares of Hovnanian Enterprises in the second quarter valued at about $506,000. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Hovnanian Enterprises by 6.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,239 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Hovnanian Enterprises by 26.1% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,422 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. 65.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Hovnanian Enterprises

In other news, Director J Larry Sorsby sold 1,032 shares of Hovnanian Enterprises stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.57, for a total value of $147,132.24. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 187,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,719,899.12. The trade was a 0.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ara K. Hovnanian sold 12,880 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was 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. Company insiders own 22.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citizens Jmp assumed coverage on Hovnanian Enterprises in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. They set a “market underperform” rating and a $74.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Hovnanian Enterprises from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $97.00.

Hovnanian Enterprises Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE HOV opened at $131.51 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $770.67 million, a PE ratio of 36.13 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $121.92 and a 200-day moving average of $117.55. Hovnanian Enterprises Inc has a 52-week low of $91.52 and a 52-week high of $162.05.

Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE:HOV) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The construction company reported ($0.46) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.04) by $1.58. Hovnanian Enterprises had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 1.25%.The business had revenue of $667.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $626.40 million.

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.