PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) Price Target Cut to $140.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) had its target price trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $165.00 to $140.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the construction company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on PHM. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, UBS Group increased 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.71.

PulteGroup Trading Down 0.8 %

PHM opened at $115.89 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $23.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.62. PulteGroup has a 52 week low of $99.03 and a 52 week high of $149.47. The business’s 50 day moving average is $132.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. This is a boost from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is presently 6.49%.

Institutional Trading of PulteGroup

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 102.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,040,828 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,297,630,000 after buying an additional 4,571,757 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 5.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,254,274 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,647,364,000 after acquiring an additional 585,735 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in shares of PulteGroup in the third quarter valued at $66,485,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 357.1% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 521,958 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $74,917,000 after acquiring an additional 407,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in PulteGroup by 1,020.0% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 435,925 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $62,568,000 after purchasing an additional 397,003 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.