Rhumbline Advisers Sells 6,498 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Rhumbline Advisers trimmed its stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 392,565 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 6,498 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers’ holdings in PulteGroup were worth $42,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 4.0% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,639 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,393,000 after purchasing an additional 901 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,732 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 0.8% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 22,181 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,184,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in PulteGroup by 26.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,945 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 3,319 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $476,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on PHM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on PulteGroup from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of PulteGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.86.

PulteGroup Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE PHM opened at $107.45 on Tuesday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.24 and a 52 week high of $149.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.30, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a fifty day moving average of $112.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $126.08.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 24.43%. On average, analysts predict that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.43 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.98%.

PulteGroup declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to purchase up to 6.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at PulteGroup

In related news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total value of $372,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,980.80. This represents a 23.53 % 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, Director Brian P. Anderson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.45, for a total transaction of $266,125.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 56,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,026,879.65. The trade was a 4.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,191 shares of company stock worth $2,256,367 in the last 90 days. 0.83% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.