Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $2.08 Million Stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 8.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,457 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,394 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in PulteGroup were worth $2,075,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in PHM. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in PulteGroup by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 463 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its position in shares of PulteGroup by 54.7% during the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 232 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 17.2% during the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 565 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in PulteGroup by 1.7% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 5,002 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $718,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC boosted its stake in PulteGroup by 3.9% in the second quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 2,329 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on PHM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $141.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, BTIG Research lifted their price objective on PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 71,007 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 89,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,043,420.09. This represents a 44.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total transaction of $2,491,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 45,230 shares in the company, valued at $5,931,462.20. This represents a 29.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.83% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PulteGroup Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of PulteGroup stock opened at $128.89 on Monday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 52-week low of $86.59 and a 52-week high of $149.47. The stock has a market cap of $26.43 billion, a PE ratio of 9.51, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $137.29 and a 200-day moving average of $125.37. 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 (NYSE:PHM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $4.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.27 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.30% and a net margin of 16.64%. PulteGroup’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. This is a boost from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is 5.90%.

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.