Raymond James' Mass Downgrade Of Homebuilders Shows...It Doesn't Like Them Very Much

Raymond James talked about homebuilders on Friday, and revealed that it's not very confident in the sector.

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE: PHM), the nation’s largest homebuilding company, was downgraded from Outperform to Market Perform. Raymond James analyst Buck Horne removed the stock's $26 price target.

Shares were down over 1 percent before the market opened Friday, and were recently trading lower by a half of a percent.

MDC Holdings (NYSE: MDC), one of the top 10 homebuilders in the nation, was also downgraded from Outperform to Market Perform. Horne removed his $28 price target; the stock was recently trading a bit lower by 2 percent on this news.

Related Link: Are You Overestimating The Value Of Your Home?

Other downgrades from Outperform to Market Perform include (as of the first half hour of market trading):

• KB Home (NYSE: KB): $15 price target removed. Stock was trading down almost 2 percent.
• Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN): $53 price target removed. Stock was down over half of a percent.
• Ryland Group, Inc. (NYSE: RYL): $48 price target removed. Stock was down 1.34 percent.
• Standard Pacific Corporation (NYSE: SPC): $9 price target removed. Stock was trading down about half of a percent.

Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) was downgraded from Strong Buy to Market Outperform, and its price target was lowered from $44 to $41. Toll was trading up about half of a percent.

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In contrast, Raymond James decided to hold DR Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI) neutral at Market Outperform, but lowered its price target from $31 to $29. The stock was trading down slightly.

Lastly, WCI Communities Inc. (NYSE: WCIC) was the only company that saw a price target price target increase, while its rating remained a Strong Buy.

Horne upgraded his price target from $28 to $30; the stock was trading up slightly above a half of a percent.