Wright Investors Service Inc. Trims Holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Wright Investors Service Inc. decreased its holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,780 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,204 shares during the quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $3,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in PulteGroup by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 55,196 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,313,000 after buying an additional 4,799 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC purchased a new position in PulteGroup during the 1st quarter worth $221,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 22,505 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,487 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 26.7% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 70,856 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,969,000 after purchasing an additional 14,918 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PulteGroup news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total transaction of $206,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 15,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,586,452.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of PHM traded up $2.52 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $108.67. The company had a trading volume of 392,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,763,479. PulteGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.74 and a fifty-two week high of $121.07. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.77. The stock has a market cap of $22.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.21 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.47 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.97% and a net margin of 16.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.63 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 11.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to reacquire up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is 6.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $126.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $91.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.47.

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.