Short Interest in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) Drops By 18.4%

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,250,000 shares, a decline of 18.4% from the October 15th total of 6,430,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,800,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

PulteGroup Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:PHM traded down $0.55 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $128.89. The company had a trading volume of 1,509,994 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,026,295. PulteGroup has a 1 year low of $86.59 and a 1 year high of $149.47. The company has a market cap of $26.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a 50-day moving average of $137.29 and a 200 day moving average of $125.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.25. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.64% and a return on equity of 25.30%. The firm had revenue of $4.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.90 earnings per share. PulteGroup’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that PulteGroup will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This is a positive change from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is presently 5.90%.

Insider Activity at PulteGroup

In other PulteGroup news, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 71,007 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.83, for a total value of $9,573,873.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,043,420.09. The trade was a 44.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total transaction of $2,491,660.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 45,230 shares in the company, valued at $5,931,462.20. The trade was a 29.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 27,269 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,289,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in PulteGroup by 1.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 464,217 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $55,993,000 after buying an additional 5,022 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co. increased its position in shares of PulteGroup by 135.5% during the first quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 8,932 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,077,000 after acquiring an additional 5,140 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 108.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 16,430 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,981,000 after acquiring an additional 8,555 shares during the period. Finally, Interval Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,206,000. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on PHM shares. Raymond James raised their target price on PulteGroup from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays raised their price objective on PulteGroup from $131.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. BTIG Research upped their target price on PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.00.

About PulteGroup

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.