OLD Second National Bank of Aurora Trims Holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

OLD Second National Bank of Aurora decreased its position in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 41,318 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 991 shares during the quarter. PulteGroup makes up approximately 1.0% of OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $4,500,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PHM. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of PulteGroup by 115.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 185 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of PulteGroup during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of PulteGroup during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. JNBA Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of PulteGroup during the 3rd quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its position in shares of PulteGroup by 1,059.3% during the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 313 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PHM. StockNews.com downgraded PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised PulteGroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $154.00 to $148.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wedbush raised PulteGroup from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.29.

PulteGroup Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:PHM opened at $112.90 on Thursday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 52-week low of $100.24 and a 52-week high of $149.47. The stock has a market cap of $23.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.33, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $118.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $127.58.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.30% and a net margin of 16.64%. Equities analysts predict that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.96 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a boost from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.49%.

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.