PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) Price Target Raised to $143.00 at Oppenheimer

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) had its price target upped by Oppenheimer from $138.00 to $143.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the construction company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group cut shares of PulteGroup from a buy rating to a neutral rating and raised their target price for the stock from $93.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $116.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $91.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $110.73.

PulteGroup Price Performance

NYSE PHM opened at $112.26 on Wednesday. PulteGroup has a 12 month low of $64.41 and a 12 month high of $121.07. The stock has a market cap of $23.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.56. The company’s 50 day moving average is $110.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.21 by $0.07. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.63% and a return on equity of 25.81%. The company had revenue of $4.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that PulteGroup will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.41%.

PulteGroup declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to repurchase up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total transaction of $206,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 15,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,586,452.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.83% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of PulteGroup

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PHM. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of PulteGroup during the fourth quarter valued at $381,960,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 54.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,003,713 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $310,043,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060,466 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 63.6% in the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,748,119 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $129,354,000 after acquiring an additional 679,582 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in PulteGroup in the third quarter worth about $47,762,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,892,229 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $195,316,000 after acquiring an additional 523,623 shares during the period. 89.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.