Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Sells 5,308 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lowered its position in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 58.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,728 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 5,308 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $535,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 108.6% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 16,430 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,981,000 after buying an additional 8,555 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC bought a new stake in PulteGroup in the 1st quarter valued at about $245,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of PulteGroup by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 4,449 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of PulteGroup during the first quarter worth approximately $246,000. Finally, Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PulteGroup in the first quarter valued at approximately $210,000. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at PulteGroup

In related 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 transaction, the director now owns 45,230 shares in the company, valued at $5,931,462.20. The trade was a 29.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PHM. BTIG Research increased their price target on PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James raised their price target on PulteGroup from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $148.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six 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, PulteGroup currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.00.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

NYSE:PHM opened at $128.49 on Friday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1-year low of $86.59 and a 1-year high of $149.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market cap of $26.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.63. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $136.94 and its 200-day moving average is $125.69.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.27 billion. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.64% and a return on equity of 25.30%. PulteGroup’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.90 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This is a positive change from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is currently 5.90%.

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.