Wright Investors Service Inc. Has $2.61 Million Holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Wright Investors Service Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM - Free Report) by 24.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,930 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 7,650 shares during the quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc.'s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $2,606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Choreo LLC acquired a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the second quarter valued at $450,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in PulteGroup by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 331,214 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $36,467,000 after buying an additional 33,808 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 311,097 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $34,252,000 after acquiring an additional 4,588 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in PulteGroup by 25.8% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 121,316 shares of the construction company's stock worth $13,323,000 after acquiring an additional 24,889 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in PulteGroup by 41.4% during the second quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,337 shares of the construction company's stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PHM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wedbush raised PulteGroup from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $135.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on PulteGroup from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $145.21.

PulteGroup Price Performance

NYSE:PHM traded up $3.31 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $112.30. The stock had a trading volume of 1,765,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,818,263. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 12 month low of $100.24 and a 12 month high of $149.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.03 billion, a PE ratio of 8.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.67. 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 50-day simple moving average of $121.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.91.

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

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a boost from PulteGroup's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. PulteGroup's dividend payout ratio is 6.49%.

PulteGroup 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.