Smith Salley Wealth Management Sells 280 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Smith Salley Wealth Management reduced its stake in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,569 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 280 shares during the period. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 25.1% during the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 34,127 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,757,000 after buying an additional 6,858 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 18,687 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,057,000 after purchasing an additional 1,985 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 54.7% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,580 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 912 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in PulteGroup by 7.5% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 203,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $22,350,000 after acquiring an additional 14,213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 14.6% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,418 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $927,000 after buying an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PulteGroup Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of PHM opened at $117.11 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $24.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.67. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 12-month low of $100.24 and a 12-month high of $149.47. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $120.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $127.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.27 billion. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.64% and a return on equity of 25.30%. PulteGroup’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.90 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.96 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a positive change from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is 6.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wedbush upgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.14.

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.