PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Raymond James

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by equities researchers at Raymond James in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $135.00 price objective on the construction company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $120.00. Raymond James’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 23.24% from the company’s previous close.

PHM has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group lowered 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 research note on Thursday, January 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $91.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $116.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of PulteGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.73.

PulteGroup Trading Down 2.4 %

PulteGroup stock traded down $2.72 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $109.54. The stock had a trading volume of 757,551 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,814,202. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $99.05. PulteGroup has a twelve month low of $64.41 and a twelve month high of $121.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $23.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.56.

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PulteGroup news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total value of $206,180.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 15,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,586,452.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PulteGroup

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 70,207 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,468,000 after acquiring an additional 6,900 shares in the last quarter. Eudaimonia Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PulteGroup during the 1st quarter valued at about $269,000. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC boosted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 77,294 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $9,323,000 after acquiring an additional 3,254 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 18.2% during the 1st quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 5,654 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $682,000 after acquiring an additional 869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PulteGroup during the 1st quarter valued at about $229,000. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About PulteGroup

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.