PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) Stock Rating Lowered by Wolfe Research

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wolfe Research from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on PulteGroup from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $131.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. BTIG Research boosted their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on PulteGroup from $141.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.14.

PulteGroup Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:PHM opened at $122.54 on Wednesday. PulteGroup has a 52 week low of $68.80 and a 52 week high of $135.62. The company’s 50 day moving average is $117.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.51. The company has a market cap of $25.43 billion, a PE ratio of 9.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.49 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.67% and a net margin of 16.75%. PulteGroup’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.00 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that PulteGroup will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 28,993 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.29, for a total value of $3,748,504.97. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 160,330 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,729,065.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.83% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of PulteGroup

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Putnam Investments LLC lifted its position in PulteGroup by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 11,008,695 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,136,318,000 after purchasing an additional 197,656 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of PulteGroup during the 4th quarter worth approximately $381,960,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,968,788 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $326,864,000 after buying an additional 235,826 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,892,229 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $195,316,000 after buying an additional 523,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 19.6% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,529,698 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $168,254,000 after acquiring an additional 250,937 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.