Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Purchases New Stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,097 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $732,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 4,571,757 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in shares of PulteGroup in the third quarter valued at approximately $66,485,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 357.1% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 521,958 shares of the construction company's stock worth $74,917,000 after acquiring an additional 407,764 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in PulteGroup by 1,020.0% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 435,925 shares of the construction company's stock worth $62,568,000 after acquiring an additional 397,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in PulteGroup by 19.6% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,529,698 shares of the construction company's stock worth $168,254,000 after acquiring an additional 250,937 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on PulteGroup from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America raised their price objective on PulteGroup from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com lowered PulteGroup from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $140.00 price objective (down from $150.00) on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $144.50.

PulteGroup Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:PHM traded down $1.38 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $117.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,067,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,827,489. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $24.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.62. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $133.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.34. PulteGroup, Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.03 and a twelve month high of $149.47.

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

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. This is a boost from PulteGroup's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. PulteGroup's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.90%.

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.