PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and eleven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $140.86.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PHM shares. StockNews.com cut shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $125.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on PulteGroup from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th.

PulteGroup Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of PHM stock opened at $104.81 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $111.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. PulteGroup has a 1 year low of $100.24 and a 1 year high of $149.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.13, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.68.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 24.43%. As a group, analysts anticipate that PulteGroup will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to reacquire up to 6.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is 5.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at PulteGroup

In other PulteGroup news, EVP Todd N. Sheldon sold 15,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.50, for a total transaction of $1,617,841.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,758 shares in the company, valued at $7,961,727. This trade represents a 16.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total value of $372,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,372 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,980.80. The trade was a 23.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,191 shares of company stock worth $2,256,367 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,937,866 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,300,034,000 after buying an additional 683,592 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 102.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,040,828 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,297,630,000 after purchasing an additional 4,571,757 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,120,878 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $556,465,000 after purchasing an additional 64,947 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PulteGroup in the fourth quarter worth about $427,562,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,425,941 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $264,185,000 after purchasing an additional 315,148 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

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.