Man Group plc Acquires 571,251 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Man Group plc grew its holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 136.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 988,963 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 571,251 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $107,698,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nilsine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 929.2% in the fourth quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 20,574 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,240,000 after purchasing an additional 18,575 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,559 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC now owns 42,241 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,600,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 416.0% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 12,775 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,391,000 after acquiring an additional 10,299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in PulteGroup during the fourth quarter worth about $275,000. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at PulteGroup

In other PulteGroup news, EVP Todd N. Sheldon sold 15,191 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 3,500 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total value of $372,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,372 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,980.80. The trade was a 23.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

PulteGroup Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE PHM opened at $106.45 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. PulteGroup, Inc. has a twelve month low of $88.07 and a twelve month high of $149.47. The company has a market cap of $21.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $101.10 and its 200 day moving average is $111.70.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 17.18%. The company had revenue of $3.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.10 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PHM shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on PulteGroup from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group decreased their target price on PulteGroup from $151.00 to $141.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn raised PulteGroup from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on PulteGroup from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on PulteGroup from $116.00 to $109.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.69.

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.