Freedom Investment Management Inc. Sells 1,682 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,671 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,682 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $2,106,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 102.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,040,828 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,297,630,000 after purchasing an additional 4,571,757 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in PulteGroup during the 1st quarter worth $68,985,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in PulteGroup in the 3rd quarter valued at $66,485,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 1,020.0% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 435,925 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $62,568,000 after buying an additional 397,003 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 250,937 shares during the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on PulteGroup from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wolfe Research lowered shares of PulteGroup from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on PulteGroup from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.00.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

Shares of PHM opened at $135.63 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.00, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.63. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 12 month low of $86.59 and a 12 month high of $149.47. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $136.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.17. 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 (NYSE:PHM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $4.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.27 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.30% and a net margin of 16.64%. The business’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.90 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a positive change from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is 5.90%.

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.