Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Invests $593,000 in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd acquired a new position in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 4,131 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $593,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PHM. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 54.7% in the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 232 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in PulteGroup by 115.1% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 185 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of PulteGroup in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PulteGroup during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE PHM opened at $136.53 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $136.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $126.32. PulteGroup, Inc. has a twelve month low of $86.59 and a twelve month high of $149.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $28.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.07, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.63.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.25. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.30% and a net margin of 16.64%. The company had revenue of $4.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.90 EPS. PulteGroup’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. This is a positive change from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PHM shares. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on PulteGroup from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. BTIG Research upped their price target on PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $148.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, PulteGroup currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.00.

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.