PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) Price Target Increased to $136.00 by Analysts at Barclays

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) had its price target lifted by Barclays from $126.00 to $136.00 in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the construction company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup cut shares of PulteGroup from a buy rating to a neutral rating and increased their target price for the company from $87.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group cut shares of PulteGroup from a buy rating to a neutral rating and increased their target price for the company from $93.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $91.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Wedbush restated a neutral rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $105.53.

PulteGroup Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:PHM opened at $113.84 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $24.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $109.10 and its 200-day moving average is $95.21. PulteGroup has a 52-week low of $57.26 and a 52-week high of $121.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.07. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.97% and a net margin of 16.20%. The company had revenue of $4.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.63 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that PulteGroup will post 11.78 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to repurchase up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PulteGroup news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total value of $206,180.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 15,389 shares in the company, valued at $1,586,452.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.83% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of PulteGroup

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PHM. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in PulteGroup by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 753,768 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $78,030,000 after buying an additional 28,833 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in PulteGroup by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 26,341 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,951,000 after buying an additional 5,257 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in PulteGroup by 65.0% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 224,978 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $16,660,000 after buying an additional 88,638 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in PulteGroup during the 4th quarter valued at $2,815,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in PulteGroup by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,517 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

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.