Hartford Investment Management Co. Reduces Stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lowered its stake in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,184 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 370 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $1,892,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PHM. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 9.2% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 10,943 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,571,000 after buying an additional 924 shares during the period. Segment Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in PulteGroup in the 3rd quarter worth about $12,673,000. Eastern Bank increased its holdings in PulteGroup by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 136,497 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $19,591,000 after acquiring an additional 1,551 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in PulteGroup by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,565 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $942,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in PulteGroup by 8.3% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 19,624 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,817,000 after purchasing an additional 1,497 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PHM has been the topic of several research reports. BTIG Research boosted their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research lowered PulteGroup from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on PulteGroup from $148.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on PulteGroup from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.00.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

PulteGroup stock opened at $135.84 on Friday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $70.21 and a fifty-two week high of $149.47. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $136.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.95. The stock has a market cap of $28.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.73.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $4.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.27 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.30% and a net margin of 16.64%. The company’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is 5.90%.

Insider Activity

In other PulteGroup news, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total value of $2,491,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 45,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,931,462.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other PulteGroup news, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total value of $2,491,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 45,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,931,462.20. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 71,007 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.83, for a total value of $9,573,873.81. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,043,420.09. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 119,000 shares of company stock valued at $15,814,039. Corporate insiders own 0.83% 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.