Dallas, Texas 04/30/2014 (FINANCIALSTRENDS) – D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE:DHI) which is the premier residential house construction company in the country reported a hugely impressive 18 percent increase in its quarterly profits from its 2Q14 operations. Its management team also provided positive guidance for the rest of the year, thanks to which rating agencies reiterated their positive assessment of the stock and increased their price target. Compass Point reiterated its Neutral rating on the stock on 28th April and increased the price target to $22, while MKM Partners reiterated its Buy rating on the stock and upped the price target from $26 to $27 last week post the earnings call.
The big jump in the house builders profits were recorded on the back of average 10 percent increase in the price of houses and a similar increase in the demand for residential housing across the country during the reporting quarter. Net income from 2Q operations came in at $131 million, which translated into 38 cents per share earnings. Comparatively, during 2Q13, net income had come in at $111 million and 32 cents per share earnings. These earnings were accomplished on the back of a 22.7 percent increase in revenue for the reporting quarter at $1.68 billion.
Expressing confidence in the robust recovery that the housing sector has scripted over the past quarter continuing into the full fiscal, D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE:DHI) Vice Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, President and Member of Executive Committee Donald J. Tomnitz has been quoted to have said that, “Our net sales orders in the March quarter were up 57% sequentially in the December quarter and at 9% from the second quarter of last year. Our solid sales performance resulted in an 18% increase in our backlog value compared to the prior year quarter, putting us in a strong position for increased revenue and profitability in the second half of fiscal 2014”.
