Firms downgrade Realogy stock rating, is the sky falling?

Realogy is one of the biggest of the biggest in the real estate industry – their portfolio includes Coldwell Banker, ERA, Century 21, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Sotheby’s International Realty, the Corcoran Group, CitiHabitats, ZipRealty, and other title and settlement companies.

The publicly traded company has been downgraded by Goldman Sachs from a “buy” to a “neutral” rating according to a new TheFlyOnTheWall.com report. Other researchers have also issued similar ratings drops, with Zacks lowering shares from “buy” to “hold” just two weeks ago. Other firms Compass Point and Stephens changed their ratings and assessments of the stock.

At the time of publication, the stock is currently trading at $44.28 and traded down 0.40 percent today, reaching $45.34, and the majority of firms that have assigned a “hold” status note and average price target of $49.16 before they will alter the status.

Is this the end of the world for Realogy?

While the slip has grabbed headlines in the financial world, it means very little for the average real estate practitioner, even those under the Realogy umbrella. Realogy Holdings Corp has a 12-month low of $32.91 and a 12-month high of $49.75, so they’ve been within the window of having their status adjusted back to a more comfortable zone.

The company posted their quarterly earnings on Friday, reporting a $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, coming up $0.03 short of the consensus estimate of $0.69. They earned $1.70 billion for the quarter, beating the expectations of $1.65 billion. Quarterly revenue was up 9.2 percent compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, Realogy posted $0.46 earnings per share.

When you see the stock prices fluctuating, read the full story before deciding that the sky is falling. In other words, this is all par for the course, and the mega brand is actually doing quite well.

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