Mount Lucas Management LP Has $2.34 Million Stock Position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Mount Lucas Management LP lessened its position in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 60.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,289 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 24,541 shares during the quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $2,338,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB bought a new position in PulteGroup in the first quarter worth $68,985,000. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 1,020.0% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 435,925 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $62,568,000 after acquiring an additional 397,003 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,529,698 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $168,254,000 after acquiring an additional 250,937 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in PulteGroup by 8.6% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,968,788 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $326,864,000 after acquiring an additional 235,826 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in PulteGroup by 35.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 861,487 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $123,649,000 after purchasing an additional 223,841 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

Shares of PulteGroup stock opened at $128.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $125.27. PulteGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $86.59 and a fifty-two week high of $149.47. The firm has a market cap of $26.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.63.

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

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. This is a positive change from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PulteGroup news, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 71,007 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.83, for a total value of $9,573,873.81. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,043,420.09. This trade represents a 44.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total transaction of $2,491,660.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 45,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,931,462.20. This represents a 29.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on PulteGroup from $148.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. BTIG Research increased their price objective on PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.00.

PulteGroup Company 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.