Sciencast Management LP Buys New Position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Sciencast Management LP bought a new stake in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 11,194 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,219,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PHM. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 622 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,572 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,224 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,440,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,384 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,050 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PHM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on PulteGroup from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on PulteGroup from $146.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group increased their target price on PulteGroup from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on PulteGroup from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.86.

PulteGroup Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:PHM opened at $103.04 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.00, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.21. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 52-week low of $100.35 and a 52-week high of $149.47.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 17.18%. Analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is currently 5.98%.

PulteGroup declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, January 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to reacquire up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Todd N. Sheldon sold 15,191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.50, for a total transaction of $1,617,841.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,961,727. This represents a 16.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total value of $372,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,372 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,980.80. This trade represents a 23.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,191 shares of company stock valued at $2,256,367 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Profile

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.