Rhumbline Advisers Decreases Stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Rhumbline Advisers lowered its position in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 392,565 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 6,498 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.19% of PulteGroup worth $42,750,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Creative Planning grew its stake in PulteGroup by 4.0% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in PulteGroup by 17.4% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,732 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $392,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in shares of PulteGroup by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 22,181 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,184,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 26.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,945 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN raised its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 3,319 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on PHM. Barclays decreased their target price on PulteGroup from $125.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $146.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $135.00 to $134.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.86.

PulteGroup Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of PulteGroup stock opened at $107.45 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.73. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1 year low of $100.24 and a 1 year high of $149.47. The firm has a market cap of $22.04 billion, a PE ratio of 7.30, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.08.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

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

PulteGroup announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to repurchase up to 6.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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 owns 11,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,209,980.80. The trade was a 23.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Todd N. Sheldon sold 15,191 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.50, for a total value of $1,617,841.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,758 shares in the company, valued at $7,961,727. This trade represents a 16.89 % 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 quarter. 0.83% of the stock is owned by 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.