West Oak Capital LLC Purchases 1,595 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

West Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 1,876.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,680 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,595 shares during the quarter. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Candriam S.C.A. purchased a new stake in PulteGroup in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of PulteGroup during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,506,000. Prudential PLC increased its position in shares of PulteGroup by 131.7% during the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 3,976 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 2,260 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in PulteGroup in the second quarter worth about $450,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in PulteGroup by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 26,269 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,892,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171 shares during the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on PHM. Wedbush raised PulteGroup from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup reduced their target price on PulteGroup from $146.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. StockNews.com cut PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $143.86.

PulteGroup Trading Down 2.6 %

NYSE:PHM traded down $2.84 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $107.62. 2,040,939 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,868,158. PulteGroup, Inc. has a twelve month low of $100.24 and a twelve month high of $149.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $122.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $126.72. The company has a market capitalization of $22.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.94, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.67.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.90 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. This is an increase from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is presently 6.49%.

PulteGroup Profile

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.