PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) Shares Gap Up to $106.15

Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $106.15, but opened at $109.50. PulteGroup shares last traded at $108.06, with a volume of 107,398 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on PHM. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $116.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $91.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $126.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $93.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.47.

PulteGroup Stock Down 0.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.05. The stock has a market cap of $22.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.98, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.56.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.21 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.47 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.97% and a net margin of 16.20%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.63 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.81%.

PulteGroup announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to reacquire up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total transaction of $206,180.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 15,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,586,452.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,594 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,583 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 2.4% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 4,774 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $575,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 3,102 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS increased its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 43,391 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,479,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

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.