Swiss National Bank Raises Stock Holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. $PHM

Swiss National Bank grew its position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 5.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 572,100 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,500 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $67,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PHM. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in PulteGroup by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,555,304 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,589,495,000 after purchasing an additional 655,033 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in PulteGroup by 126.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,284,197 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $502,366,000 after purchasing an additional 2,392,580 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in PulteGroup by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,000,920 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $469,148,000 after purchasing an additional 377,003 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in PulteGroup in the fourth quarter valued at $466,653,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,257,211 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $264,681,000 after buying an additional 123,793 shares during the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PHM. Zacks Research upgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Seaport Research Partners restated a “sell” rating and issued a $100.00 price target (down from $155.00) on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on PulteGroup from $112.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on PulteGroup from $159.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on PulteGroup from $136.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.21.

Insider Transactions at PulteGroup

In other PulteGroup news, COO Matthew William Koart sold 7,457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $894,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 28,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,372,000. This represents a 20.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lila Snyder sold 3,339 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.18, for a total transaction of $391,264.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $414,817.20. This trade represents a 48.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

PulteGroup Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of PHM stock opened at $124.24 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $123.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.67 billion, a PE ratio of 12.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1-year low of $108.49 and a 1-year high of $144.49.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.40 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 16.41% and a net margin of 12.14%.PulteGroup’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.57 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 9.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.06%.

PulteGroup declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, April 23rd that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to purchase up to 6.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

PulteGroup Company Profile

PulteGroup, Inc (NYSE: PHM) is a U.S.-based residential homebuilder that designs, constructs and sells single-family homes and develops master-planned communities. The company operates multiple national and regional brands that target different buyer segments, including first-time buyers, move-up buyers and active-adult customers. Its operations encompass land acquisition and development, home design and construction, community amenities and ongoing customer service and warranty programs.

PulteGroup markets homes under several well-known brands, such as Pulte Homes, Centex and Del Webb, among others, offering a range of product types from entry-level detached homes to larger, higher-end residences and age-restricted active-adult communities.