PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.22 EPS

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.22, Zacks reports. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.30% and a net margin of 16.64%.

PulteGroup Trading Up 6.4 %

PHM stock traded up $7.21 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $120.20. The stock had a trading volume of 1,689,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,085,241. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $118.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $127.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $24.65 billion, a PE ratio of 8.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.67. PulteGroup has a 12-month low of $100.24 and a 12-month high of $149.47.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a positive change from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is currently 6.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $135.00 to $134.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. UBS Group raised PulteGroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $154.00 to $148.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays dropped their price objective on PulteGroup from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on PulteGroup from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.29.

PulteGroup Company 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.