PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) Raised to Buy at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. UBS Group currently has $148.00 price target on the construction company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $154.00.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on PHM. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $146.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $143.86.

PulteGroup Stock Down 2.6 %

PHM stock opened at $107.62 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. PulteGroup has a 1 year low of $100.24 and a 1 year high of $149.47. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $122.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.69. The firm has a market cap of $22.07 billion, a PE ratio of 7.94, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.67.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $4.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.27 billion. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.64% and a return on equity of 25.30%. PulteGroup’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PulteGroup will post 12.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.22 dividend. This is a boost from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is currently 6.49%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PulteGroup

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PHM. FMR LLC lifted its position in PulteGroup by 102.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,040,828 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,297,630,000 after acquiring an additional 4,571,757 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in PulteGroup by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,254,274 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,647,364,000 after acquiring an additional 585,735 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in PulteGroup in the 3rd quarter valued at $66,485,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in PulteGroup by 357.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 521,958 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $74,917,000 after acquiring an additional 407,764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in PulteGroup by 1,020.0% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 435,925 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $62,568,000 after buying an additional 397,003 shares in 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.