Fidelis Capital Partners LLC Takes $294,000 Position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 2,850 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $294,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PHM. AIA Group Ltd purchased a new position in PulteGroup in the 4th quarter worth $375,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its stake in PulteGroup by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 62,894 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,492,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in PulteGroup by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 19,718 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,035,000 after acquiring an additional 1,095 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in PulteGroup in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Quantum Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in PulteGroup in the 4th quarter worth $238,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PHM. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on PulteGroup from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays raised their target price on PulteGroup from $126.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James increased their price target on PulteGroup from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.47.

Insider Activity at PulteGroup

In related news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total value of $206,180.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 15,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,586,452.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

PulteGroup Price Performance

NYSE:PHM opened at $105.45 on Friday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.18 and a 52 week high of $121.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.25 billion, a PE ratio of 8.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $110.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.05.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.21 by $0.07. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.97% and a net margin of 16.20%. The firm had revenue of $4.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.63 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 11.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.81%.

PulteGroup declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to repurchase up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.