PulteGroup’s (PHM) “Outperform” Rating Reaffirmed at Wedbush

Wedbush reiterated their outperform rating on shares of PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) in a report released on Friday,RTT News reports. They currently have a $135.00 target price on the construction company’s stock.

PHM has been the topic of several other reports. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded PulteGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.86.

PulteGroup Trading Down 4.0 %

PulteGroup stock opened at $113.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. PulteGroup has a 1 year low of $100.24 and a 1 year high of $149.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $118.03 and its 200-day moving average is $127.42. The company has a market cap of $23.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.39, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.67.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.30% and a net margin of 16.64%. On average, equities analysts expect that PulteGroup will post 13.06 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This is a positive change from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.49%.

PulteGroup announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase 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 repurchase up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of PulteGroup

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 463 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 17.2% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 565 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 1.7% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 5,002 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $718,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its position in PulteGroup by 3.0% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,054 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in PulteGroup by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 622 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.