Guild (NYSE:GHLD) Trading Up 5.4%

Guild Holdings (NYSE:GHLD)’s stock price was up 5.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $14.57 and last traded at $14.57. Approximately 13,144 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 28% from the average daily volume of 10,271 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.83.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GHLD shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Guild from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Guild in a research report on Friday, May 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Guild from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $14.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Guild from $14.00 to $16.50 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.10.

Guild Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $14.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market cap of $869.80 million, a PE ratio of 33.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.03.

Guild (NYSE:GHLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $231.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $173.77 million. Guild had a net margin of 3.41% and a return on equity of 4.25%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.04) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Guild Holdings will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Guild Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th.

Insider Activity

In other Guild news, Director Edward Bryant, Jr. sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.01, for a total transaction of $84,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $375,692.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Terry Lynn Schmidt purchased 3,630 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $16.12 per share, for a total transaction of $58,515.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,798,606 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,113,528.72. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Edward Bryant, Jr. sold 6,000 shares of Guild stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.01, for a total transaction of $84,060.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 26,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $375,692.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders purchased 13,370 shares of company stock worth $214,346 in the last 90 days. 78.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Guild

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GHLD. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Guild in the first quarter worth approximately $149,000. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Guild in the third quarter worth approximately $358,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Guild by 8.2% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 237,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,508,000 after acquiring an additional 17,992 shares during the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lifted its position in Guild by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 431,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,083,000 after buying an additional 5,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in Guild by 2.3% during the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,173,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,874,000 after buying an additional 26,510 shares in the last quarter. 17.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.