First Eagle Investment Management LLC Reduces Position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC lessened its position in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,839 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its position in PulteGroup by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 622 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,572 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,224 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,440,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in PulteGroup by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,384 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in PulteGroup by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,050 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on PulteGroup from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on PulteGroup from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Bank of America lowered 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.86.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PHM opened at $103.04 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1 year low of $100.54 and a 1 year high of $149.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.86 billion, a PE ratio of 7.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.71. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $109.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $123.08.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 24.43%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.98%.

PulteGroup announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to reacquire up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other PulteGroup news, EVP Todd N. Sheldon sold 15,191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.50, for a total transaction of $1,617,841.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,961,727. The trade was a 16.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 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 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.83% 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.