PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) Reaches New 1-Year High at $117.75

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $117.75 and last traded at $117.59, with a volume of 285181 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $115.99.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PHM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James increased their target price on PulteGroup from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Barclays increased their target price on PulteGroup from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on PulteGroup from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on PulteGroup from $91.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.87.

PulteGroup Trading Up 2.2 %

The company has a market cap of $25.45 billion, a PE ratio of 10.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.56. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.21 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.47 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.97% and a net margin of 16.20%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.63 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.81%.

PulteGroup declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to purchase up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total value of $206,180.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 15,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,586,452.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PHM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in PulteGroup in the fourth quarter valued at about $381,960,000. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in PulteGroup by 10.8% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 20,885,474 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,622,384,000 after purchasing an additional 2,030,200 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in PulteGroup by 29.4% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,850,407 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $203,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101,565 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in PulteGroup by 54.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,003,713 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $310,043,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,466 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in PulteGroup by 36.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,651,100 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $152,982,000 after purchasing an additional 972,310 shares during the period. 89.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PulteGroup Company Profile

PulteGroup, Inc, through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the homebuilding business in the United States. It acquires and develops land primarily for residential purposes; and constructs housing on such land. The company also offers various home designs, including single-family detached, townhomes, condominiums, and duplexes under the Centex, Pulte Homes, Del Webb, DiVosta Homes, John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods, and American West brand names.