United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Acquires Shares of 6,700 PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund bought a new stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,700 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $730,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in PulteGroup by 102.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,040,828 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,297,630,000 after acquiring an additional 4,571,757 shares during the period. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 77.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,636,562 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $180,775,000 after purchasing an additional 716,716 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 5.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,254,274 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,647,364,000 after purchasing an additional 585,735 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 357.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 521,958 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $74,917,000 after acquiring an additional 407,764 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 3,118.4% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 376,717 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $54,070,000 after acquiring an additional 365,012 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at PulteGroup

In other PulteGroup news, EVP Todd N. Sheldon sold 15,191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,961,727. This represents a 16.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 3,500 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,191 shares of company stock valued at $2,256,367. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on PHM. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Seaport Res Ptn raised PulteGroup from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $146.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.86.

PulteGroup Price Performance

Shares of PulteGroup stock opened at $105.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.16, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $108.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $121.83. PulteGroup, Inc. has a twelve month low of $100.35 and a twelve month high of $149.47.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current year.

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

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.98%.

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.