PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Truist Financial

Truist Financial upgraded shares of PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 11th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $149.00 to $131.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on PulteGroup from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.71.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

PHM traded down $2.80 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $129.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 474,994 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,830,813. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.88 billion, a PE ratio of 11.63, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.32. PulteGroup has a fifty-two week low of $88.07 and a fifty-two week high of $144.49.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.35%.

Insider Activity

In other PulteGroup news, EVP Todd N. Sheldon sold 14,220 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.01, for a total transaction of $1,919,842.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 69,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,417,352.53. This represents a 16.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Marshall sold 111,250 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.86, for a total transaction of $14,891,925.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 659,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,266,213.12. This trade represents a 14.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 149,952 shares of company stock worth $20,162,165. 0.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of PulteGroup

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Railway Pension Investments Ltd grew its position in shares of PulteGroup by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 137,739 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $14,526,000 after buying an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in PulteGroup by 24.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 312,935 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,348,000 after acquiring an additional 61,009 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 10.5% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 105,470 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $13,959,000 after purchasing an additional 10,028 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in PulteGroup by 16.1% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 371,228 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $49,050,000 after purchasing an additional 51,506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 129.5% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 151,766 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $15,778,000 after purchasing an additional 85,637 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Company Profile

PulteGroup, Inc (NYSE: PHM) is a U.S.-based residential homebuilder that designs, constructs and sells single-family homes and develops master-planned communities. The company operates multiple national and regional brands that target different buyer segments, including first-time buyers, move-up buyers and active-adult customers. Its operations encompass land acquisition and development, home design and construction, community amenities and ongoing customer service and warranty programs.

PulteGroup markets homes under several well-known brands, such as Pulte Homes, Centex and Del Webb, among others, offering a range of product types from entry-level detached homes to larger, higher-end residences and age-restricted active-adult communities.