BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- D.R. Horton Inc., one of the nation's largest home builders, on Tuesday reported a $1.3 billion quarterly loss as housing weakness and turmoil in mortgage markets continued to drain financial results.

The Ft. Worth, Texas-based company (DHI) swung to a net loss of $1.31 billion, or $4.14 a share, compared with net income of $51.7 million, or 16 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.

D.R. Horton also halved its quarterly dividend.

For the fiscal second quarter ended March 31, total revenue slipped to $1.62 billion from $2.62 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had been looking for a loss of 39 cents a share on revenue of $1.36 billion, on average. Analyst estimates typically exclude charges.