Kentucky Retirement Systems Cuts Stock Position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 6.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 16,108 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,142 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in PulteGroup were worth $1,943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PHM. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. bought a new position in PulteGroup in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in PulteGroup during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in PulteGroup during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in PulteGroup by 335.6% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 379 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 3,463.6% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 392 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Trading Up 1.4 %

PHM stock traded up $1.83 during trading on Monday, hitting $131.82. The company had a trading volume of 858,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,841,588. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.80 and a 52-week high of $131.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $114.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $111.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.56. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.75% and a return on equity of 25.67%. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is currently 6.41%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on PulteGroup from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $129.00 to $117.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on PulteGroup from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on PulteGroup from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.14.

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.