Strs Ohio Reduces Stock Position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Strs Ohio reduced its holdings in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 69,897 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 6,894 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $7,214,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,748,609 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,162,667,000 after buying an additional 261,934 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,343,160 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $604,439,000 after purchasing an additional 228,040 shares in the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 5,726,368 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $591,076,000 after purchasing an additional 24,350 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,484,469 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $406,125,000 after purchasing an additional 95,945 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 29.4% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,850,407 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $203,232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101,565 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on PHM. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $126.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $93.00 to $120.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.47.

PulteGroup Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:PHM opened at $106.15 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $110.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.77. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.00 and a 12 month high of $121.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market cap of $22.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.56.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.07. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.20% and a return on equity of 25.97%. The firm had revenue of $4.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.63 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 11.79 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.81%.

PulteGroup announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to purchase up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at PulteGroup

In related news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 15,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,586,452.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PulteGroup 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.