Raymond James Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM)

Raymond James reiterated their outperform rating on shares of PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $135.00 target price on the construction company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $120.00.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on PulteGroup from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer upped their price target on PulteGroup from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday. Zelman & Associates raised PulteGroup from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on PulteGroup from $91.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PulteGroup presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $111.73.

PulteGroup Price Performance

Shares of PHM stock opened at $112.52 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $111.04 and its 200-day moving average is $99.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.67 billion, a PE ratio of 8.92, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.56. PulteGroup has a 52 week low of $64.70 and a 52 week high of $121.07.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $4.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.47 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.81% and a net margin of 16.63%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that PulteGroup will post 11.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.41%.

PulteGroup announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to purchase up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total transaction of $206,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 15,389 shares in the company, valued at $1,586,452.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.83% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PHM. Norges Bank bought a new position in PulteGroup in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $381,960,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in PulteGroup by 54.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,003,713 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $310,043,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,466 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 63.6% in the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,748,119 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $129,354,000 after buying an additional 679,582 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of PulteGroup during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,762,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 38.3% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,892,229 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $195,316,000 after acquiring an additional 523,623 shares during the period. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PulteGroup Company 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.