PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) Given Outperform Rating at Raymond James

Raymond James reiterated their outperform rating on shares of PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $135.00 price target on the construction company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $120.00.

PHM has been the subject of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $91.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of PulteGroup from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday. Zelman & Associates raised shares of PulteGroup from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group cut shares of PulteGroup from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $93.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $111.73.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PHM opened at $112.52 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $23.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $111.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.13. PulteGroup has a 52-week low of $64.70 and a 52-week high of $121.07.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.21 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.47 billion. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.63% and a return on equity of 25.81%. PulteGroup’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.63 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that PulteGroup will post 11.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.41%.

PulteGroup declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to reacquire up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total transaction of $206,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 15,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,586,452.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in PulteGroup during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $381,960,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in PulteGroup by 54.6% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in PulteGroup by 63.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,748,119 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $129,354,000 after purchasing an additional 679,582 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in PulteGroup during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $47,762,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in PulteGroup by 38.3% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,892,229 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $195,316,000 after purchasing an additional 523,623 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

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.