PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $140.86.

PHM has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut PulteGroup from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group increased their target price on PulteGroup from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on PulteGroup from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th.

Insider Buying and Selling at PulteGroup

In other news, VP Brien P. O'meara sold 3,500 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total transaction of $372,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,209,980.80. The trade was a 23.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Todd N. Sheldon sold 15,191 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.50, for a total value of $1,617,841.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,758 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,961,727. This represents a 16.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,191 shares of company stock worth $2,256,367 over the last ninety days. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 102.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,040,828 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,297,630,000 after buying an additional 4,571,757 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in PulteGroup in the 4th quarter valued at $427,562,000. Amundi grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 77.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,636,562 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $180,775,000 after buying an additional 716,716 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,937,866 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,300,034,000 after buying an additional 683,592 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in PulteGroup in the 3rd quarter valued at $66,485,000. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PulteGroup Price Performance

Shares of PHM stock traded up $0.75 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $107.45. 1,519,276 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,329,279. The stock's 50-day moving average is $112.63 and its 200-day moving average is $126.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $22.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.68. PulteGroup has a 52 week low of $100.24 and a 52 week high of $149.47.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 17.18%. As a group, research analysts forecast that PulteGroup will post 12.43 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. PulteGroup's dividend payout ratio is 5.98%.

PulteGroup declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, January 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to purchase up to 6.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.