PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) Shares Sold by Freedom Investment Management Inc.

Freedom Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,671 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,682 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $2,106,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PHM. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 102.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,040,828 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,297,630,000 after purchasing an additional 4,571,757 shares during the period. Greenhaven Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of PulteGroup by 0.3% in the third quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 5,593,179 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $802,789,000 after acquiring an additional 16,871 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 8.6% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,968,788 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $326,864,000 after acquiring an additional 235,826 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,529,698 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $168,254,000 after acquiring an additional 250,937 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in PulteGroup by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,025,276 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $147,158,000 after purchasing an additional 60,854 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PHM opened at $135.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.00, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.63. PulteGroup, Inc. has a one year low of $86.59 and a one year high of $149.47. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $136.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.17. 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 (NYSE:PHM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 prior year, the company posted $2.90 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This is a positive change from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PHM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $148.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on PulteGroup from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on PulteGroup from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.00.

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.