Moors & Cabot Inc. Increases Stock Position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,816 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $838,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PHM. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 54.7% in the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 232 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in PulteGroup by 115.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 185 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in PulteGroup during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in PulteGroup during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in PulteGroup during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Price Performance

PHM opened at $129.76 on Friday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $136.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.77. PulteGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $86.59 and a fifty-two week high of $149.47. The firm has a market cap of $26.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.63.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.25. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.30% and a net margin of 16.64%. The business had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.90 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. This is a positive change from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research downgraded PulteGroup from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. BTIG Research raised 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. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $148.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.00.

Insider Activity at PulteGroup

In other PulteGroup news, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total transaction 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 approximately $5,931,462.20. This trade represents a 29.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Profile

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.