Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 22,457 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. $PHM

Handelsbanken Fonder AB trimmed its holdings in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 20.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 84,785 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 22,457 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $9,942,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,900,271 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,704,513,000 after purchasing an additional 609,640 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,623,917 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $478,828,000 after purchasing an additional 424,011 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,755,241 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $185,108,000 after purchasing an additional 202,870 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 120.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,703,049 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $225,024,000 after purchasing an additional 930,287 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,453,403 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $192,038,000 after purchasing an additional 99,067 shares during the period. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PHM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their target price on PulteGroup from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on PulteGroup from $159.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on PulteGroup from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $149.00 price objective (up from $140.00) on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut PulteGroup from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PulteGroup currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.71.

PulteGroup Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE PHM opened at $116.31 on Friday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 12 month low of $95.20 and a 12 month high of $144.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50-day moving average of $119.38 and a 200-day moving average of $124.12.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.01). PulteGroup had a return on equity of 16.41% and a net margin of 12.14%.The business had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 10 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.06%.

PulteGroup announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, April 23rd that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to buy up to 6.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at PulteGroup

In other PulteGroup news, Director Lila Snyder sold 3,339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.18, for a total value of $391,264.02. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $414,817.20. This represents a 48.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kevin A. Henry sold 5,173 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.03, for a total value of $729,548.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,069,333.19. This represents a 26.07% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.