PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) Shares Gap Up to $106.15

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $106.15, but opened at $109.50. PulteGroup shares last traded at $108.06, with a volume of 107,398 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PHM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group downgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $93.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $91.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.47.

PulteGroup Trading Up 2.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $22.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.56. The business’s 50-day moving average is $110.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.21 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $4.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.47 billion. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.20% and a return on equity of 25.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.81%.

PulteGroup announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to buy up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at PulteGroup

In other PulteGroup news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total value of $206,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 15,389 shares in the company, valued at $1,586,452.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PulteGroup

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PHM. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 753,768 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $78,030,000 after buying an additional 28,833 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 26,341 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,951,000 after buying an additional 5,257 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 65.0% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 224,978 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $16,660,000 after buying an additional 88,638 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PulteGroup during the 4th quarter worth about $6,111,000. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of PulteGroup during the 4th quarter worth about $2,815,000. 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.