PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) Upgraded to “Buy” at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $148.00 price target on the construction company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $154.00.

PHM has been the topic of several other reports. StockNews.com lowered PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.86.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

Shares of PHM stock opened at $110.41 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $122.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $126.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. PulteGroup has a 52 week low of $100.24 and a 52 week high of $149.47. The company has a market cap of $22.64 billion, a PE ratio of 8.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.67.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 25.30% and a net margin of 16.64%. The company had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.27 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that PulteGroup will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is an increase from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is 6.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PulteGroup

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC lifted its holdings in PulteGroup by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 48,427 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,274,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 54,364 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,920,000 after purchasing an additional 2,860 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 71.4% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,307,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 129,975 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in PulteGroup by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,190 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $238,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.