Royal Bank of Canada Raises PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) Price Target to $113.00

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) had its target price boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from $106.00 to $113.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a sector perform rating on the construction company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com cut PulteGroup from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Saturday, March 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $91.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Zelman & Associates raised shares of PulteGroup from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $126.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $111.73.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

PHM opened at $113.74 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.86. PulteGroup has a 1-year low of $64.70 and a 1-year high of $121.07. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $111.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $99.42.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.21 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.47 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.81% and a net margin of 16.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.63 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that PulteGroup will post 11.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.41%.

PulteGroup announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to repurchase up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PulteGroup news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total transaction of $206,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 15,389 shares in the company, valued at $1,586,452.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PulteGroup

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PHM. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 33.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,449 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $774,000 after acquiring an additional 2,609 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 25.6% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,237 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,869,000 after buying an additional 5,140 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 11.1% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 27,619 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after buying an additional 2,750 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 25.0% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 859 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of PulteGroup during the third quarter valued at about $232,000. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.