Citigroup Cuts PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) Price Target to $119.00

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) had its target price lowered by Citigroup from $146.00 to $119.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the construction company’s stock.

PHM has been the topic of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 price target (down from $150.00) on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. BTIG Research increased their target price on PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wedbush upgraded PulteGroup from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $143.86.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

Shares of PulteGroup stock opened at $110.41 on Monday. PulteGroup has a 1 year low of $100.24 and a 1 year high of $149.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $122.83 and its 200 day moving average is $126.84. The stock has a market cap of $22.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.14, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

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

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is an increase from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PulteGroup

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PHM. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 44,221 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,869,000 after buying an additional 2,230 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 221,355 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $24,371,000 after buying an additional 53,469 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. acquired a new stake in shares of PulteGroup during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Gallacher Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $264,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PulteGroup during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,506,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.