Everence Capital Management Inc. Acquires 510 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,050 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 510 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $934,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Eads & Heald Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the fourth quarter worth approximately $253,000. Conning Inc. bought a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the fourth quarter worth approximately $224,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the fourth quarter worth approximately $703,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,342,000. Finally, Simplicity Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 3,374 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the period. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 2nd. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $91.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $116.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PulteGroup presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total value of $206,180.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 15,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,586,452.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

PulteGroup Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of PHM opened at $106.15 on Thursday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.00 and a twelve month high of $121.07. The company has a market cap of $22.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.77.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.07. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.20% and a return on equity of 25.97%. The business had revenue of $4.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 11.79 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.81%.

PulteGroup declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to reacquire up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.