Vest Financial LLC Acquires 290,564 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 1,311.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 312,723 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 290,564 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $32,148,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PHM. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,937,866 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,300,034,000 after acquiring an additional 683,592 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,120,878 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $556,465,000 after acquiring an additional 64,947 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in PulteGroup during the 4th quarter worth $427,562,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,425,941 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $264,185,000 after acquiring an additional 315,148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,033,776 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $221,478,000 after acquiring an additional 169,736 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of PulteGroup from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $116.00 to $109.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.69.

PulteGroup Price Performance

PHM opened at $101.52 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.90, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $99.61 and a 200 day moving average of $108.29. 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 fifty-two week low of $88.07 and a fifty-two week high of $149.47.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its quarterly 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 analyst estimates of $3.86 billion. PulteGroup had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 24.43%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.10 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.21%.

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.