First Horizon Advisors Inc. Sells 259 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 7.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,077 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 259 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $442,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Greenhaven Associates Inc. grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 0.3% during the third quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 5,593,179 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $802,789,000 after buying an additional 16,871 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,968,788 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $326,864,000 after acquiring an additional 235,826 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 19.6% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,529,698 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $168,254,000 after purchasing an additional 250,937 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 18.4% during the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,085,939 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $130,986,000 after purchasing an additional 168,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 6.3% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,025,276 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $147,158,000 after purchasing an additional 60,854 shares during the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now owns 45,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,931,462.20. This represents a 29.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PHM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. BTIG Research lifted their price target on PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of PulteGroup from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Six 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 stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.00.

PulteGroup Price Performance

PulteGroup stock opened at $129.76 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.57, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.63. PulteGroup, Inc. has a one year low of $86.59 and a one year high of $149.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $136.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $125.77.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.25. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.30% and a net margin of 16.64%. The business had revenue of $4.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. This is a boost from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is currently 6.49%.

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.