Rakuten Securities Inc. Buys Shares of 360 PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 360 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in PulteGroup during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 3,463.6% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 392 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 91.5% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 427 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PulteGroup in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC increased its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 90.9% in the 1st quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 441 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PulteGroup Stock Down 0.2 %

PHM opened at $105.96 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.82. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.74 and a 52 week high of $121.07. The company has a market capitalization of $22.36 billion, a PE ratio of 9.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

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

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is 6.81%.

PulteGroup announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to reacquire up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on PulteGroup from $116.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Raymond James upped their price objective on PulteGroup from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. UBS Group lowered PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $93.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.47.

Insider Activity at PulteGroup

In other PulteGroup news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,586,452.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.83% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.