HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 1,976 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,863 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,976 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $2,851,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 102.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,040,828 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,297,630,000 after acquiring an additional 4,571,757 shares during the period. Greenhaven Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 0.3% in the third quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 5,593,179 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $802,789,000 after purchasing an additional 16,871 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 8.6% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,968,788 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $326,864,000 after purchasing an additional 235,826 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 7.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,864,040 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $267,546,000 after purchasing an additional 135,391 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 19.6% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,529,698 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $168,254,000 after purchasing an additional 250,937 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on PHM shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on PulteGroup from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America increased their price objective on PulteGroup from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. StockNews.com lowered PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BTIG Research increased their price objective on PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.29.

PulteGroup Price Performance

Shares of PHM opened at $120.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1 year low of $95.36 and a 1 year high of $149.47. The stock has a market cap of $24.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.62. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $133.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.15.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.90 EPS. PulteGroup’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities 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 will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This is a positive change from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.49%.

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.