CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Sells 17,702 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lowered its stake in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 342,971 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 17,702 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned about 0.17% of PulteGroup worth $37,334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new position in PulteGroup in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 74.1% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 322 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of PulteGroup in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 41.9% in the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 444 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 642.2% in the fourth quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 475 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Todd N. Sheldon sold 15,191 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.50, for a total transaction of $1,617,841.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,961,727. This represents a 16.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Brian P. Anderson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.45, for a total value of $266,125.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 56,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,026,879.65. This trade represents a 4.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,191 shares of company stock valued at $2,256,367. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on PHM. Citigroup lowered their target price on PulteGroup from $146.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.21.

PulteGroup Price Performance

PulteGroup stock opened at $94.87 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $102.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $19.21 billion, a PE ratio of 6.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.44. PulteGroup, Inc. has a one year low of $88.07 and a one year high of $149.47.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 17.18%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, January 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to repurchase up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.98%.

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.