PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) Announces Dividend Increase - $0.22 Per Share

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 14th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of 0.22 per share by the construction company on Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. This is a positive change from PulteGroup's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20.

PulteGroup has raised its dividend payment by an average of 10.8% per year over the last three years. PulteGroup has a payout ratio of 5.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect PulteGroup to earn $13.39 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 6.0%.

PulteGroup Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE PHM traded up $2.00 during trading on Thursday, hitting $129.48. 1,422,434 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,841,290. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. PulteGroup has a fifty-two week low of $86.59 and a fifty-two week high of $149.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.63. The business's fifty day moving average is $137.29 and its 200 day moving average is $125.14.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.25. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.64% and a return on equity of 25.30%. The company had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.90 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that PulteGroup will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PHM shares. Wolfe Research lowered shares of PulteGroup from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $148.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $131.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $145.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 71,007 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.83, for a total value of $9,573,873.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,323 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,043,420.09. This trade represents a 44.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total transaction of $2,491,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,931,462.20. This trade represents a 29.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.83% of the company's stock.

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.