Traders Buy High Volume of Howard Hughes Call Options (NYSE:HHH)

Howard Hughes Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HHH) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 2,940 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 406% compared to the average volume of 581 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HHH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Howard Hughes from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Howard Hughes in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Howard Hughes from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Howard Hughes presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.33.

Howard Hughes Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HHH opened at $81.88 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. Howard Hughes has a 12-month low of $61.40 and a 12-month high of $91.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.96 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $83.53 and a 200 day moving average of $78.57.

Howard Hughes (NYSE:HHH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $390.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $331.52 million. Howard Hughes had a net margin of 14.95% and a return on equity of 11.06%. The company’s revenue was up 19.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.95 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Howard Hughes will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Howard Hughes

In other Howard Hughes news, Director Mary Ann Tighe sold 6,000 shares of Howard Hughes stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.83, for a total value of $532,980.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 13,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,198,760.85. This trade represents a 30.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director R Scot Sellers purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $77.94 per share, with a total value of $389,700.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 67,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,262,274.98. The trade was a 8.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 48.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Howard Hughes by 134.2% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 363 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its stake in shares of Howard Hughes by 291.0% in the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 391 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Howard Hughes during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Howard Hughes by 191.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 516 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Howard Hughes by 69.6% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 665 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. 93.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Howard Hughes Company Profile

Howard Hughes Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a real estate development company in the United States. It operates in four segments: Operating Assets; Master Planned Communities (MPCs); Seaport; and Strategic Developments. The Operating Assets segment consists of developed or acquired retail, office, and multi-family properties along with other retail investments. Its MPCs segment develops, sells, and leases residential and commercial land designated for long-term community development projects in and around Las Vegas, Nevada; Houston, Texas; and Phoenix, Arizona.