Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Sells 4,985 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. $PHM

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 401,269 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 4,985 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $42,318,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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 valued at $358,395,000 after buying an additional 1,001,290 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,570,022 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $264,216,000 after acquiring an additional 271,917 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of PulteGroup in the 1st quarter valued at $213,092,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,579,792 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $162,403,000 after acquiring an additional 276,077 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in PulteGroup by 1.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,374,328 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $141,281,000 after acquiring an additional 22,837 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Trading Up 0.4%

PHM opened at $114.27 on Friday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.07 and a fifty-two week high of $142.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.27 billion, a PE ratio of 8.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company’s 50-day moving average is $124.73 and its 200 day moving average is $117.23.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The construction company reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.31 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 14.93%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.35 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 16th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Bank of America decreased their target price on PulteGroup from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Zacks Research raised PulteGroup from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on PulteGroup from $154.00 to $134.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.67.

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.