OLD Second National Bank of Aurora Sells 991 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

OLD Second National Bank of Aurora trimmed its holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,318 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 991 shares during the quarter. PulteGroup comprises approximately 1.0% of OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $4,500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of PHM. FMR LLC increased its holdings in PulteGroup by 102.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,040,828 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,297,630,000 after buying an additional 4,571,757 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in PulteGroup by 5.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,254,274 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,647,364,000 after purchasing an additional 585,735 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in shares of PulteGroup during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $66,485,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 357.1% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 521,958 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $74,917,000 after acquiring an additional 407,764 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 1,020.0% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 435,925 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $62,568,000 after acquiring an additional 397,003 shares during the period. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

NYSE:PHM opened at $112.90 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $118.53 and its 200 day moving average is $127.58. PulteGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.24 and a fifty-two week high of $149.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.15 billion, a PE ratio of 8.33, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.30% and a net margin of 16.64%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.96 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This is a positive change from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PHM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded PulteGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on PulteGroup from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upgraded PulteGroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $154.00 to $148.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on PulteGroup from $135.00 to $134.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PulteGroup currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.29.

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.