Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $3.25 Million Position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 19.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 31,463 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,122 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $3,248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 335.6% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 379 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in PulteGroup by 3,463.6% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 392 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its stake in PulteGroup by 91.5% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 427 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in PulteGroup during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total value of $206,180.00. Following 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

PulteGroup Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:PHM opened at $112.26 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $23.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $110.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.05. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.41 and a 1 year high of $121.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.47 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.81% and a net margin of 16.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 11.79 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to buy up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PHM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zelman & Associates raised PulteGroup from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on PulteGroup from $91.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on PulteGroup from $116.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on PulteGroup from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.73.

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.