Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Makes New Investment in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,097 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $732,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PHM. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of PulteGroup by 102.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,040,828 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,297,630,000 after buying an additional 4,571,757 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in PulteGroup during the third quarter worth about $66,485,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 357.1% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 521,958 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $74,917,000 after purchasing an additional 407,764 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 1,020.0% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 435,925 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $62,568,000 after purchasing an additional 397,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 19.6% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,529,698 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $168,254,000 after purchasing an additional 250,937 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Price Performance

NYSE PHM opened at $118.42 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.73, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $133.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $127.34. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.03 and a 52 week high of $149.47.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.25. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.64% and a return on equity of 25.30%. The business had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.90 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This is an increase from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is 5.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PHM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 price objective (down from $150.00) on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.50.

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.