Crestline Management LP Purchases Shares of 73,469 PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Crestline Management LP acquired a new position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 73,469 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,001,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the fourth quarter worth $2,324,000. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 996,970 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $108,570,000 after purchasing an additional 39,274 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 31,170 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,394,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Bayview Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 103.3% in the 4th quarter. Bayview Asset Management LLC now owns 11,688 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,273,000 after buying an additional 5,938 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas lifted its holdings in PulteGroup by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 10,457 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,137,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the period. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PHM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Bank of America lowered their price target on PulteGroup from $135.00 to $134.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on PulteGroup from $146.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.69.

Insider Transactions at PulteGroup

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

PulteGroup Price Performance

PulteGroup stock opened at $103.76 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1 year low of $88.07 and a 1 year high of $149.47. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $101.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.89.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.86 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 17.18%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.10 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is presently 6.21%.

PulteGroup declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to repurchase up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

PulteGroup 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.