Independent Advisor Alliance Boosts Stock Position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 21.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,868 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,735 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $1,075,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PHM. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,254,274 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,647,364,000 after acquiring an additional 585,735 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 102.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,040,828 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,297,630,000 after acquiring an additional 4,571,757 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,864,040 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $267,546,000 after acquiring an additional 135,391 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 77.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,636,562 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $180,775,000 after acquiring an additional 716,716 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,424,119 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $155,856,000 after acquiring an additional 129,975 shares during the period. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PHM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on PulteGroup from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded PulteGroup from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on PulteGroup from $146.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.86.

Insider Activity at PulteGroup

In other PulteGroup news, EVP Todd N. Sheldon sold 15,191 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.50, for a total value of $1,617,841.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,961,727. This trade represents a 16.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 3,500 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total value of $372,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,209,980.80. The trade was a 23.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,191 shares of company stock valued at $2,256,367 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Stock Up 1.9 %

PHM stock opened at $103.04 on Friday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a twelve month low of $100.54 and a twelve month high of $149.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $20.86 billion, a PE ratio of 7.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.71. The business has a 50 day moving average of $109.01 and a 200 day moving average of $123.13.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 17.18%. On average, research analysts forecast that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.98%.

PulteGroup announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to buy up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.