StockNews.com Upgrades PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) to “Buy”

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on PHM. Raymond James lifted their target price on PulteGroup from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Zelman & Associates upgraded PulteGroup from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on PulteGroup from $91.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on PulteGroup from $116.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PulteGroup has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.73.

PulteGroup Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE PHM opened at $111.36 on Wednesday. PulteGroup has a 1 year low of $64.41 and a 1 year high of $121.07. The firm has a market cap of $23.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.92, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $111.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.13.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.47 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.81% and a net margin of 16.63%. PulteGroup’s quarterly revenue was down 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PulteGroup will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes 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 leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total transaction of $206,180.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 15,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,586,452.01. The transaction 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PulteGroup

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Strategy Asset Managers LLC boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 3.8% in the first quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 6,522 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $787,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 10.9% in the first quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 70,207 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $8,468,000 after purchasing an additional 6,900 shares in the last quarter. Eudaimonia Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PulteGroup in the first quarter worth $269,000. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 4.4% in the first quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 77,294 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,323,000 after purchasing an additional 3,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 18.2% in the first quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 5,654 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $682,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.