Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $47.68 Million Stock Position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 14.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 332,208 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 57,580 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $47,682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its stake in PulteGroup by 3,118.4% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 376,717 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $54,070,000 after acquiring an additional 365,012 shares in the last quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 67.7% in the 3rd quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,797 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,124,000 after purchasing an additional 5,976 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in shares of PulteGroup during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,973,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 585,735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its holdings in PulteGroup by 50.9% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 5,336 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $766,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Trading Up 1.5 %

PHM opened at $110.52 on Monday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.03 and a fifty-two week high of $149.47. The company has a market cap of $22.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.24.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.25. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.64% and a return on equity of 25.30%. The company had revenue of $4.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PHM shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BTIG Research raised their price target on PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on PulteGroup from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 target price (down previously from $150.00) on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on PulteGroup from $148.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.71.

PulteGroup Company 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.