Royal Bank of Canada Boosts PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) Price Target to $113.00

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) had its price target lifted by Royal Bank of Canada from $106.00 to $113.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the construction company’s stock.

PHM has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $126.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Wedbush reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $116.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of PulteGroup from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lifted their target price for the company from $93.00 to $120.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, PulteGroup currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $110.73.

PulteGroup Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of PulteGroup stock opened at $112.26 on Wednesday. PulteGroup has a 1 year low of $64.41 and a 1 year high of $121.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $23.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.99, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.56. The company’s fifty day moving average is $110.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.05.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.07. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.63% and a return on equity of 25.81%. The company had revenue of $4.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.63 EPS. PulteGroup’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that PulteGroup will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.41%.

PulteGroup declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to buy up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PulteGroup news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total transaction of $206,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 15,389 shares in the company, valued at $1,586,452.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PulteGroup

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PHM. CWM LLC raised its position in PulteGroup by 33.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,449 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $774,000 after acquiring an additional 2,609 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its position in PulteGroup by 25.6% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,237 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,869,000 after acquiring an additional 5,140 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in PulteGroup by 11.1% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 27,619 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,045,000 after acquiring an additional 2,750 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in PulteGroup by 25.0% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 859 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PulteGroup during the third quarter worth about $232,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

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.