New York State Common Retirement Fund Trims Holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 15.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 339,437 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 59,957 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.16% of PulteGroup worth $35,037,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. SC&H Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in PulteGroup during the 4th quarter worth approximately $256,000. Aspire Private Capital LLC increased its stake in PulteGroup by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 8,871 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $916,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in PulteGroup by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 490,044 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $50,582,000 after buying an additional 22,259 shares during the period. EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. increased its stake in PulteGroup by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. EFG Asset Management Americas Corp. now owns 28,277 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,919,000 after buying an additional 4,752 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in PulteGroup by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,855 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,120,000 after buying an additional 406 shares during the period. 89.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.83% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PHM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zelman & Associates raised shares of PulteGroup from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group downgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $93.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of PulteGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Five 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 $111.73.

PulteGroup Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:PHM opened at $111.36 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $23.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $111.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.86. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1-year low of $64.41 and a 1-year high of $121.07.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.21 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.47 billion. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.63% and a return on equity of 25.81%. PulteGroup’s quarterly revenue was down 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 11.96 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to buy up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.41%.

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.