Barclays Cuts PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) Price Target to $125.00

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) had its target price lowered by Barclays from $140.00 to $125.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the construction company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $146.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on PulteGroup from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Finally, Wedbush upgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.14.

PulteGroup Price Performance

Shares of PulteGroup stock opened at $116.95 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $120.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $126.85. PulteGroup has a one year low of $100.24 and a one year high of $149.47. The stock has a market cap of $23.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.27 billion. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.64% and a return on equity of 25.30%. The business’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that PulteGroup will post 12.96 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. This is an increase from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is 6.49%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PulteGroup

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in PulteGroup by 5.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,254,274 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,647,364,000 after acquiring an additional 585,735 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 102.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,040,828 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,297,630,000 after purchasing an additional 4,571,757 shares during the period. Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 5,593,179 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $802,789,000 after purchasing an additional 16,871 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 8.6% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,968,788 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $326,864,000 after buying an additional 235,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 7.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,864,040 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $267,546,000 after buying an additional 135,391 shares in the last quarter. 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.