Nordea Investment Management AB Trims Stake in PulteGroup, Inc. $PHM

Nordea Investment Management AB decreased its stake in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 37.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 559,806 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 337,273 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $73,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in PulteGroup by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 12,517 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 2,128 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 0.3% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 62,529 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,428,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its stake in PulteGroup by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 48,991 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,167,000 after acquiring an additional 2,490 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,633 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Channel Wealth LLC acquired a new position in PulteGroup in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,246,000. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on PulteGroup from $136.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. UBS Group lowered their price target on PulteGroup from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $111.00 target price on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $154.00 to $134.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.85.

PulteGroup Stock Down 2.1%

PHM opened at $130.80 on Thursday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1 year low of $88.07 and a 1 year high of $142.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $122.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.36. 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 company has a market cap of $25.49 billion, a PE ratio of 10.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.33.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The construction company reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.35 earnings per share. PulteGroup’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 16th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is 8.01%.

PulteGroup Profile

PulteGroup, Inc (NYSE: PHM) is a U.S.-based residential homebuilder that designs, constructs and sells single-family homes and develops master-planned communities. The company operates multiple national and regional brands that target different buyer segments, including first-time buyers, move-up buyers and active-adult customers. Its operations encompass land acquisition and development, home design and construction, community amenities and ongoing customer service and warranty programs.

PulteGroup markets homes under several well-known brands, such as Pulte Homes, Centex and Del Webb, among others, offering a range of product types from entry-level detached homes to larger, higher-end residences and age-restricted active-adult communities.