Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Sells 23,730 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 19.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 96,064 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 23,730 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $10,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 4,571,757 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in PulteGroup by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,254,274 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,647,364,000 after acquiring an additional 585,735 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in PulteGroup during the third quarter valued at about $66,485,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of PulteGroup by 357.1% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 521,958 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $74,917,000 after purchasing an additional 407,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 1,020.0% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 435,925 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $62,568,000 after purchasing an additional 397,003 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. BTIG Research raised their target price on PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group raised shares of PulteGroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $154.00 to $148.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.14.

PulteGroup Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:PHM opened at $116.56 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $119.54 and its 200-day moving average is $127.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.24 and a 52 week high of $149.47. The company has a market capitalization of $23.90 billion, a PE ratio of 8.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.67.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.90 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a positive change from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.