PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $134.1538.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PHM shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on PulteGroup from $128.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

PulteGroup stock opened at $120.24 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $109.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. PulteGroup has a fifty-two week low of $88.07 and a fifty-two week high of $149.47. The company has a market capitalization of $23.72 billion, a PE ratio of 8.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.22.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The construction company reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. PulteGroup had a net margin of 15.50% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The firm had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that PulteGroup will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PHM. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the first quarter worth about $213,092,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 2,586.8% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,166,902 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $119,958,000 after buying an additional 1,123,471 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 40.3% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,486,330 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $358,395,000 after buying an additional 1,001,290 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 219.2% in the 1st quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,039,107 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $106,820,000 after buying an additional 713,534 shares during the period. Finally, Man Group plc grew its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 136.8% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 988,963 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $107,698,000 after buying an additional 571,251 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

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.