UBS Group Upgrades PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) to Buy

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) was upgraded by equities researchers at UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $148.00 price objective on the construction company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $154.00. UBS Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 34.05% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on PHM. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on PulteGroup from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.86.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

Shares of PHM stock opened at $110.41 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $22.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.67. PulteGroup has a 52 week low of $100.24 and a 52 week high of $149.47. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $122.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $126.72.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.90 earnings per share. PulteGroup’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that PulteGroup will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PulteGroup

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC increased its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 48,427 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,274,000 after buying an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its position in PulteGroup by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 54,364 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,920,000 after acquiring an additional 2,860 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic increased its stake in PulteGroup by 71.4% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 12,000 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,307,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in PulteGroup by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,424,119 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $155,856,000 after purchasing an additional 129,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in PulteGroup by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,190 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.