Wedbush Reaffirms Outperform Rating for PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM)

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Wedbush in a research note issued to investors on Friday,RTT News reports. They currently have a $135.00 target price on the construction company’s stock. Wedbush’s price objective points to a potential upside of 18.70% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on PHM. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on PulteGroup from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $135.00 to $134.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $125.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PulteGroup has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.86.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

PHM opened at $113.73 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $117.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $127.40. The company has a market cap of $23.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.67. 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 52-week low of $100.24 and a 52-week high of $149.47.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.64% and a return on equity of 25.30%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that PulteGroup will post 13.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to repurchase up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PulteGroup

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in PulteGroup by 5.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,254,274 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,647,364,000 after purchasing an additional 585,735 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 102.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,040,828 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,297,630,000 after purchasing an additional 4,571,757 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,864,040 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $267,546,000 after buying an additional 135,391 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,424,119 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $155,856,000 after buying an additional 129,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,025,276 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $147,158,000 after buying an additional 60,854 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

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.