PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) Shares Bought by Leavell Investment Management Inc.

Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,838 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PHM. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in PulteGroup by 145.9% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,098 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $732,000 after acquiring an additional 3,025 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 4.0% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,639 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,393,000 after buying an additional 901 shares during the last quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the third quarter valued at approximately $259,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the third quarter valued at approximately $273,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 17.4% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,732 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $392,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PHM. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $146.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $135.00 to $134.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total value of $372,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,209,980.80. This represents a 23.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Brian P. Anderson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.45, for a total transaction of $266,125.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 56,617 shares in the company, valued at $6,026,879.65. This represents a 4.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 21,191 shares of company stock worth $2,256,367. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

PulteGroup Price Performance

Shares of PHM stock opened at $107.45 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.04 billion, a PE ratio of 7.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.68. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $113.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. PulteGroup, Inc. has a twelve month low of $100.24 and a twelve month high of $149.47.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 24.43%. Equities research analysts anticipate that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.98%.

PulteGroup announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to repurchase up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.