Royce & Associates LP Sells 12,717 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Royce & Associates LP lessened its stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM - Free Report) by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,730 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 12,717 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP's holdings in PulteGroup were worth $12,161,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. WR Wealth Planners LLC increased its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 54.7% during the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 232 shares of the construction company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 115.1% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 185 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of PulteGroup during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of PulteGroup during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in PulteGroup in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $141.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of PulteGroup from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Raymond James upped their target price on PulteGroup from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $145.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total value of $2,491,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,931,462.20. The trade was a 29.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 71,007 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 89,323 shares in the company, valued at $12,043,420.09. The trade was a 44.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.83% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PulteGroup Price Performance

PHM stock traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $128.89. The stock had a trading volume of 1,509,994 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,026,295. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $137.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $125.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 52 week low of $86.59 and a 52 week high of $149.47.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.90 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. This is a boost from PulteGroup's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. PulteGroup's dividend payout ratio is currently 5.90%.

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.