Eastern Bank Lowers Stock Holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. $PHM

Eastern Bank lowered its holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 136,714 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,006 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $14,418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PHM. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 42.1% in the first quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 770 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 38.6% in the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 38,993 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,008,000 after acquiring an additional 10,867 shares during the last quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 30.5% in the first quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,832 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 1,129 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 2,687.0% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 77,310 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $7,947,000 after acquiring an additional 74,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 15.9% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 909 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PHM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on PulteGroup from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded PulteGroup from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Bank of America reduced their target price on PulteGroup from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded PulteGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold 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 $136.92.

PulteGroup Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE:PHM opened at $119.92 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $130.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.07 and a 12 month high of $149.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.66 billion, a PE ratio of 8.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.29.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The construction company reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.11. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 15.50%.The business had revenue of $4.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is presently 6.58%.

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.