Guild (NYSE:GHLD) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Zacks Research

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

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on GHLD. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Guild from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $20.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Guild from $12.50 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Guild in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Guild in a report on Thursday, August 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.88.

Guild Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GHLD traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $19.95. The stock had a trading volume of 20,009 shares, compared to its average volume of 40,501. The firm has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of 9.92, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.05 and a current ratio of 0.05. The company has a 50 day moving average of $19.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.04. Guild has a twelve month low of $11.21 and a twelve month high of $23.57.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Guild

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its holdings in Guild by 10.5% in the first quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 380,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,828,000 after purchasing an additional 36,183 shares during the period. Credit Industriel ET Commercial purchased a new position in shares of Guild during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,582,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Guild by 4.5% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Guild in the 2nd quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Guild by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 28,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $558,000 after acquiring an additional 3,622 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 17.52% of the company’s stock.

Guild Company Profile

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.