Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Buys 239 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,357 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 239 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PHM. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in PulteGroup by 335.6% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 379 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc lifted its position in PulteGroup by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 117,734 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $12,153,000 after buying an additional 40,469 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its position in PulteGroup by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 3,040 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in PulteGroup during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $294,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd purchased a new position in shares of PulteGroup during the fourth quarter worth approximately $375,000. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on PHM shares. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 2nd. Raymond James boosted their price objective on PulteGroup from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $116.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $106.47.

PulteGroup Price Performance

Shares of PHM opened at $105.43 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.42. The firm has a market cap of $22.24 billion, a PE ratio of 8.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.18 and a 1-year high of $121.07.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $4.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.63 earnings per share. PulteGroup’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 11.79 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is currently 6.81%.

PulteGroup declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to buy up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at PulteGroup

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