Patten Group Inc. Reduces Position in PulteGroup, Inc. $PHM

Patten Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 17.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,069 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 656 shares during the quarter. Patten Group Inc.’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in PulteGroup in the first quarter worth about $213,092,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in PulteGroup by 2,586.8% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,166,902 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $119,958,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,471 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in PulteGroup by 40.3% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,486,330 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $358,395,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001,290 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its stake in PulteGroup by 219.2% in the first quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,039,107 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $106,820,000 after purchasing an additional 713,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in PulteGroup in the first quarter worth about $53,262,000. 89.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PHM shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on PulteGroup from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on PulteGroup from $154.00 to $134.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price target (up from $115.00) on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on PulteGroup from $132.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded PulteGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PulteGroup currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.67.

PulteGroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PHM opened at $120.10 on Thursday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.07 and a 12 month high of $142.11. The stock has a market cap of $23.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.25, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $130.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The construction company reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $4.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.31 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 14.93%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.35 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is presently 6.58%.

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.