Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 78,403 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its holdings in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 23.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 252,015 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 78,403 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.12% of PulteGroup worth $26,013,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 753,768 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $78,030,000 after acquiring an additional 28,833 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 24.9% in the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 26,341 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,951,000 after acquiring an additional 5,257 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 65.0% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 224,978 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $16,660,000 after acquiring an additional 88,638 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in PulteGroup in the 4th quarter worth $6,111,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of PulteGroup during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,342,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total value of $206,180.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 15,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,586,452.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

PHM opened at $114.57 on Tuesday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 12-month low of $64.70 and a 12-month high of $121.07. The company has a market cap of $24.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.17, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company’s 50 day moving average is $111.54 and its 200 day moving average is $100.06.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $4.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.47 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.81% and a net margin of 16.63%. PulteGroup’s revenue was down 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.66 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to reacquire up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on PHM. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on PulteGroup from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group cut shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $93.00 to $120.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $91.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on PulteGroup from $126.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.73.

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.