National Pension Service Increases Holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. $PHM

National Pension Service raised its holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 0.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 455,767 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 2,287 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $48,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in PulteGroup during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC increased its position in shares of PulteGroup by 33.3% during the second quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC now owns 420 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. REAP Financial Group LLC raised its stake in PulteGroup by 188.1% in the second quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 533 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in PulteGroup by 43.8% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 571 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Finally, Pandora Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in PulteGroup during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PHM shares. UBS Group raised their target price on PulteGroup from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of PulteGroup from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price target (up from $115.00) on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.67.

PulteGroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PHM opened at $118.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $23.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $127.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.81. PulteGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.07 and a fifty-two week high of $142.11.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The construction company reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.10. PulteGroup had a net margin of 14.93% and a return on equity of 19.58%. The firm had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.35 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.77%.

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.