Evercore ISI Trims PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) Target Price to $195.00

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) had its price target decreased by Evercore ISI from $198.00 to $195.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the construction company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered shares of PulteGroup from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $148.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Tuesday. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.00.

PulteGroup Stock Down 2.5 %

PHM stock opened at $132.47 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $137.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.16. The stock has a market cap of $27.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.61, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.62. PulteGroup has a twelve month low of $71.20 and a twelve month high of $149.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.25. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.64% and a return on equity of 25.30%. The business had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.90 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that PulteGroup will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 71,007 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.83, for a total value of $9,573,873.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 89,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,043,420.09. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 71,007 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.83, for a total transaction of $9,573,873.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 89,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,043,420.09. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total transaction of $2,491,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,931,462.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 119,000 shares of company stock worth $15,814,039 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PHM. Greenhaven Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 5,593,179 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $802,789,000 after purchasing an additional 16,871 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,968,788 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $326,864,000 after purchasing an additional 235,826 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,529,698 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $168,254,000 after purchasing an additional 250,937 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 18.4% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,085,939 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $130,986,000 after purchasing an additional 168,746 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 964,422 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $106,183,000 after purchasing an additional 53,924 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.