PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $144.26, but opened at $138.58. PulteGroup shares last traded at $137.26, with a volume of 651,325 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PHM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research downgraded PulteGroup from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $131.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on PulteGroup from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on PulteGroup from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PulteGroup has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.14.

PulteGroup Trading Down 5.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.62. The business’s 50-day moving average is $136.24 and its 200 day moving average is $122.75.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.49 billion. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.75% and a return on equity of 25.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.00 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is 6.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PulteGroup news, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 28,993 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.29, for a total transaction of $3,748,504.97. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 160,330 shares in the company, valued at $20,729,065.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other PulteGroup news, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 28,993 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.29, for a total transaction of $3,748,504.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 160,330 shares in the company, valued at $20,729,065.70. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total value of $2,491,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 45,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,931,462.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 119,000 shares of company stock worth $15,814,039. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its position in PulteGroup by 54.7% during the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 232 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Candriam S.C.A. bought a new position in PulteGroup in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in PulteGroup by 94.5% during the 2nd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 317 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.90% 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.