Guild (NYSE:GHLD) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Zacks Research

Guild (NYSE:GHLD) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on GHLD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Guild from $12.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. BTIG Research reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Guild in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group cut Guild from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $16.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Guild in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.88.

Guild Stock Performance

Shares of GHLD opened at $19.99 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.94, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The business’s 50 day moving average is $19.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.04. Guild has a 52-week low of $11.21 and a 52-week high of $23.57.

Guild (NYSE:GHLD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $307.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $311.28 million. Guild had a net margin of 10.88% and a return on equity of 10.12%. Analysts forecast that Guild will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Guild

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GHLD. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Guild by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 103,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,050,000 after purchasing an additional 1,828 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Guild during the 2nd quarter worth $65,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Guild by 14.9% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 28,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $558,000 after buying an additional 3,622 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in Guild by 4.5% in the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 657,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,054,000 after buying an additional 28,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Guild by 10.5% during the first quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 380,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,828,000 after acquiring an additional 36,183 shares during the period. 17.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Guild

Guild Holdings Company originates, sells, and services residential mortgage loans in the United States. It operates in two segments, Origination and Servicing. The company offers residential mortgages through retail and correspondent channels. Guild Holdings Company was incorporated in 1960 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.