PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) Trading Up 4.1% – Still a Buy?

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)’s stock price rose 4.1% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $104.07 and last traded at $101.81. Approximately 1,690,732 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 25% from the average daily volume of 2,264,601 shares. The stock had previously closed at $97.75.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PHM has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price 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. Bank of America lowered their target price 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. UBS Group boosted their price target on PulteGroup from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lowered their price objective on PulteGroup from $125.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their target price on PulteGroup from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.86.

PulteGroup Trading Up 3.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $106.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.07.

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

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is presently 5.98%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PulteGroup news, EVP Todd N. Sheldon sold 15,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.50, for a total transaction of $1,617,841.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,758 shares in the company, valued at $7,961,727. This trade represents a 16.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total value of $372,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,209,980.80. This represents a 23.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,191 shares of company stock worth $2,256,367 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Logan Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of PulteGroup by 67.7% during the 3rd quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,797 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,124,000 after purchasing an additional 5,976 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in PulteGroup by 38.1% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 121,299 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $17,410,000 after buying an additional 33,472 shares during the last quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 929.2% during the fourth quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 20,574 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,240,000 after buying an additional 18,575 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,559 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Argyle Capital Management LLC raised its position in PulteGroup by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC now owns 42,241 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,600,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PulteGroup Company 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.