PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.22

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of 0.22 per share by the construction company on Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%.

PulteGroup has raised its dividend by an average of 12.9% per year over the last three years. PulteGroup has a payout ratio of 6.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect PulteGroup to earn $15.24 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 5.8%.

PulteGroup Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of PulteGroup stock opened at $111.33 on Thursday. PulteGroup has a 1-year low of $100.24 and a 1-year high of $149.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $22.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.68. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $116.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.25.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 17.18%. Analysts predict that PulteGroup will post 13.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to buy up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on PHM. BTIG Research lifted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $146.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on PulteGroup from $135.00 to $134.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded PulteGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.86.

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.