Inspire Investing LLC Purchases 1,966 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 24.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,874 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 1,966 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $1,075,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in PulteGroup by 5.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,254,274 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,647,364,000 after purchasing an additional 585,735 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of PulteGroup by 102.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,040,828 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,297,630,000 after buying an additional 4,571,757 shares during the period. Greenhaven Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 5,593,179 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $802,789,000 after acquiring an additional 16,871 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,864,040 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $267,546,000 after acquiring an additional 135,391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,424,119 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $155,856,000 after acquiring an additional 129,975 shares during the period. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research lifted their price target 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 dropped their price target on PulteGroup from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush upgraded PulteGroup from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.14.

PulteGroup Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:PHM opened at $116.56 on Friday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.24 and a 52 week high of $149.47. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $119.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $127.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $23.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.67.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued 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. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.30% and a net margin of 16.64%. The company had revenue of $4.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.27 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.90 earnings per share. PulteGroup’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. This is a boost from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is presently 6.49%.

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.