PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $142.71.

A number of analysts recently commented on PHM shares. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on PulteGroup from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com lowered PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on PulteGroup from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group boosted their price target 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. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Institutional Trading of PulteGroup

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of PulteGroup by 115.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 185 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in PulteGroup during the third quarter valued at about $29,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC increased its holdings in PulteGroup by 54.7% during the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 232 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in PulteGroup in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. purchased a new position in PulteGroup in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

NYSE:PHM opened at $110.75 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. PulteGroup has a twelve month low of $99.03 and a twelve month high of $149.47. The company has a fifty day moving average of $129.77 and a 200-day moving average of $127.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.62.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.25. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.64% and a return on equity of 25.30%. The firm had revenue of $4.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PulteGroup will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders 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 is a positive change from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.49%.

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.