Baron Wealth Management LLC Acquires New Position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Baron Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,069 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $297,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of PulteGroup during the first quarter worth about $68,985,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 1,020.0% during the third 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. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 19.6% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,529,698 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $168,254,000 after buying an additional 250,937 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 8.6% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,968,788 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $326,864,000 after buying an additional 235,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 35.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 861,487 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $123,649,000 after purchasing an additional 223,841 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PHM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $131.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wolfe Research cut shares of PulteGroup from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at PulteGroup

In related news, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total value of $2,491,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,931,462.20. This trade represents a 29.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 71,007 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.83, for a total value of $9,573,873.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,043,420.09. This trade represents a 44.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.75% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:PHM opened at $128.57 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $137.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.46. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 52 week low of $86.59 and a 52 week high of $149.47. The company has a market capitalization of $26.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.25. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.30% and a net margin of 16.64%. The firm had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This is an increase from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.90%.

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.