Intech Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 1,004.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,114 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,859 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $7,134,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PHM. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in PulteGroup by 0.3% during the third quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 127,672 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,455,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of PulteGroup by 3.7% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,570 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $412,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of PulteGroup in the third quarter worth $352,000. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of PulteGroup in the third quarter worth $985,000. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in shares of PulteGroup by 104.3% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 330,418 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $24,467,000 after acquiring an additional 168,686 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PHM shares. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $127.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target (up from $120.00) on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $126.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.87.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

Shares of PulteGroup stock traded up $1.56 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $114.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 812,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,596,844. The stock has a market cap of $24.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.56. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.45. PulteGroup, Inc. has a one year low of $65.28 and a one year high of $122.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.63% and a return on equity of 25.81%. As a group, analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.41%.

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.