Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Purchases 756 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,234 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $1,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Logan Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 67.7% in the third quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,797 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,124,000 after acquiring an additional 5,976 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of PulteGroup by 38.1% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 121,299 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $17,410,000 after buying an additional 33,472 shares during the period. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department raised its stake in PulteGroup by 39.8% during the third quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 39,589 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,682,000 after buying an additional 11,269 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its stake in PulteGroup by 3.9% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 130,257 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $18,696,000 after buying an additional 4,840 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 10,625.8% during the 3rd quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 9,546 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,370,000 after acquiring an additional 9,457 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup cut their target price on PulteGroup from $146.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $125.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on PulteGroup from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, PulteGroup currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.86.

PulteGroup Stock Down 3.8 %

PHM stock opened at $105.85 on Monday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1-year low of $100.24 and a 1-year high of $149.47. The stock has a market cap of $21.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.68. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $126.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 24.43%. Analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.43 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.98%.

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

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.