LMR Partners LLP Increases Stock Holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

LMR Partners LLP lifted its stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,286 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,450 shares during the quarter. LMR Partners LLP’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $1,907,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in PulteGroup by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 464,217 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $55,993,000 after purchasing an additional 5,022 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 135.5% in the 1st quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 8,932 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,077,000 after purchasing an additional 5,140 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 108.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 16,430 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,981,000 after purchasing an additional 8,555 shares during the period. Interval Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,206,000. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in PulteGroup during the 1st quarter valued at $1,261,000. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 45,230 shares in the company, valued at $5,931,462.20. This trade represents a 29.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 71,007 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were 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 owns 89,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,043,420.09. This trade represents a 44.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PulteGroup Trading Down 0.2 %

PHM opened at $128.57 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $26.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.48, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 12 month low of $86.59 and a 12 month high of $149.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $137.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $125.46.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 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 firm had revenue of $4.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. This is a boost from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PHM. Barclays boosted their price objective on PulteGroup from $131.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on PulteGroup from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America lifted their target price on PulteGroup from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered PulteGroup from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.00.

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.