Aspire Private Capital LLC Grows Stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Aspire Private Capital LLC grew its holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,871 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the period. Aspire Private Capital LLC’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,449 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $774,000 after acquiring an additional 2,609 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,237 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,869,000 after acquiring an additional 5,140 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 41.1% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 11,509 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 3,353 shares in the last quarter. DnB Asset Management AS raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 43,268 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,204,000 after acquiring an additional 7,665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 68,807 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,095,000 after acquiring an additional 9,024 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at PulteGroup

In related news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total transaction of $206,180.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 15,389 shares in the company, valued at $1,586,452.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lowered PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $93.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Raymond James raised their price objective on PulteGroup from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on PulteGroup from $91.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays raised their price objective on PulteGroup from $126.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.47.

PulteGroup Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of PulteGroup stock traded up $1.59 on Monday, reaching $107.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,698,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,803,266. The company has a market capitalization of $22.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.42. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.35 and a 52 week high of $121.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.21 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $4.29 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.63 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to purchase up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.81%.

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.