Short Interest in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) Increases By 15.3%

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,590,000 shares, an increase of 15.3% from the January 15th total of 4,850,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,030,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Approximately 2.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at PulteGroup

In other news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $1,209,980.80. This trade represents a 23.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Todd N. Sheldon sold 15,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 directly owns 74,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,961,727. The trade was a 16.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,191 shares of company stock worth $2,256,367 over the last ninety days. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PulteGroup

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC grew its position in PulteGroup by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC now owns 2,103 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in PulteGroup during the 4th quarter worth $958,000. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in PulteGroup by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 10,389 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,133,000 after acquiring an additional 827 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its position in PulteGroup by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 101,163 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $11,017,000 after acquiring an additional 4,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Trust Co grew its position in PulteGroup by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 2,593 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PHM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on PulteGroup from $125.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lifted their price target on PulteGroup from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. 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 report on Friday, December 13th. Seaport Res Ptn cut PulteGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on PulteGroup from $146.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.86.

PulteGroup Price Performance

NYSE PHM traded up $0.75 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $107.45. The company had a trading volume of 1,519,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,329,279. The company has a market capitalization of $22.04 billion, a PE ratio of 7.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $112.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $126.08. PulteGroup has a twelve month low of $100.24 and a twelve month high of $149.47.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 24.43% and a net margin of 17.18%. As a group, analysts anticipate that PulteGroup will post 12.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to buy up to 6.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is 5.98%.

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.