Pacer Advisors Inc. Acquires 139,226 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. $PHM

Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 18.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 875,147 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 139,226 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned about 0.46% of PulteGroup worth $102,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 1,650.0% in the first quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 210 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. NFSG Corp bought a new position in PulteGroup in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Rachor Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 158.5% in the first quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 274 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in PulteGroup during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PHM shares. Barclays lifted their price target on PulteGroup from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $162.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Seaport Research Partners reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $100.00 target price (down from $155.00) on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on PulteGroup from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.14.

PulteGroup Price Performance

PHM opened at $126.71 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $125.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $125.47. The firm has a market cap of $23.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.94, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.18. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1 year low of $108.49 and a 1 year high of $144.49.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The construction company reported $2.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.12. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 15.21% and a net margin of 11.62%.The firm had revenue of $3.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.03 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 10.08 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, April 23rd that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to reacquire up to 6.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Matthew William Koart sold 7,457 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $894,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 28,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,372,000. This represents a 20.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Lila Snyder sold 3,339 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.18, for a total value of $391,264.02. Following the sale, the director owned 3,540 shares in the company, valued at $414,817.20. This represents a 48.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.