PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $107.64, but opened at $110.49. PulteGroup shares last traded at $109.32, with a volume of 141,506 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PHM shares. Wedbush upgraded PulteGroup from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $148.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.14.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $124.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.77. 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 firm has a market cap of $22.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.62.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.25. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.30% and a net margin of 16.64%. The company had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a positive change from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is currently 6.49%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PulteGroup

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PHM. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in PulteGroup during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 5.3% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 44,221 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,869,000 after acquiring an additional 2,230 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 31.8% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 221,355 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $24,371,000 after acquiring an additional 53,469 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in PulteGroup by 9.5% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 134,717 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $14,283,000 after acquiring an additional 11,677 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in PulteGroup by 5.9% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 964,422 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $106,183,000 after acquiring an additional 53,924 shares during the period. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.