Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Sells 18,422 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board cut its holdings in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 10.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 157,181 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 18,422 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.08% of PulteGroup worth $17,117,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,937,866 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,300,034,000 after purchasing an additional 683,592 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,120,878 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $556,465,000 after acquiring an additional 64,947 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PulteGroup during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $427,562,000. Amundi boosted its stake in PulteGroup by 77.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,636,562 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $180,775,000 after acquiring an additional 716,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,424,119 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $155,856,000 after purchasing an additional 129,975 shares during the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at PulteGroup

In other news, Director Brian P. Anderson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.45, for a total transaction of $266,125.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 56,617 shares in the company, valued at $6,026,879.65. This trade represents a 4.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Todd N. Sheldon sold 15,191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.50, for a total value of $1,617,841.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,961,727. The trade was a 16.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,191 shares of company stock worth $2,256,367 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on PHM shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on PulteGroup from $117.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on PulteGroup from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup dropped their price target on PulteGroup from $146.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.21.

PulteGroup Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE PHM opened at $94.87 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $102.04 and a 200 day moving average of $116.03. The company has a market capitalization of $19.21 billion, a PE ratio of 6.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1 year low of $88.07 and a 1 year high of $149.47.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 17.18%. Research analysts forecast that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to repurchase up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.98%.

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.