Nebula Research & Development LLC Takes $479,000 Position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 4,398 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $479,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in PulteGroup by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,937,866 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,300,034,000 after buying an additional 683,592 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 1.3% during the fourth 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 position in PulteGroup in the 4th quarter worth $427,562,000. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 77.9% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,424,119 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $155,856,000 after purchasing an additional 129,975 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays lowered their price target on PulteGroup from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup dropped their price target on PulteGroup from $146.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $135.00 to $134.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, PulteGroup presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PulteGroup news, Director Brian P. Anderson sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.45, for a total value of $266,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 56,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,026,879.65. The trade was a 4.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total transaction of $372,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,372 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,980.80. This represents a 23.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,191 shares of company stock valued at $2,256,367. Insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PHM opened at $101.76 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $114.30. PulteGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.07 and a fifty-two week high of $149.47. The company has a market capitalization of $20.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.92, 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 quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.10. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 17.18%. The business had revenue of $3.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.10 earnings per share. Analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.21%.

PulteGroup declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, January 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to buy up to 6.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.