Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 32,092 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,313,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 753,768 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $78,030,000 after purchasing an additional 28,833 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 24.9% in the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 26,341 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,951,000 after purchasing an additional 5,257 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 65.0% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 224,978 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $16,660,000 after purchasing an additional 88,638 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in PulteGroup in the fourth quarter worth about $2,815,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 25.2% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,517 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

NYSE PHM opened at $116.35 on Monday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.26 and a 1-year high of $121.07. The company has a market cap of $24.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $109.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.88.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.21 by $0.07. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.97% and a net margin of 16.20%. The business had revenue of $4.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 11.78 EPS for the current year.

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

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.81%.

Insider Activity at PulteGroup

In related news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total value of $206,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 15,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,586,452.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PHM. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 2nd. Barclays upped their target price on PulteGroup from $126.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on PulteGroup from $91.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on PulteGroup from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.47.

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.