PulteGroup, Inc. $PHM Shares Bought by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 143.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 772,762 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 455,754 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.39% of PulteGroup worth $81,496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PHM. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in PulteGroup during the first quarter worth about $213,092,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in PulteGroup by 40.3% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,486,330 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $358,395,000 after buying an additional 1,001,290 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in PulteGroup during the first quarter worth $53,262,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in PulteGroup by 1,248.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 435,580 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $45,936,000 after buying an additional 403,281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of PulteGroup during the second quarter valued at $39,709,000. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PHM. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on PulteGroup from $154.00 to $134.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on PulteGroup from $132.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.67.

PulteGroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PHM opened at $127.59 on Thursday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a twelve month low of $88.07 and a twelve month high of $142.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.87 billion, a PE ratio of 9.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $123.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The construction company reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.10. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 14.93%.The firm had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.35 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 16th. This is an increase from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is 8.01%.

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.