Voleon Capital Management LP Buys Shares of 2,551 PulteGroup, Inc. $PHM

Key Points

• Voleon Capital Management LP has acquired 2,551 shares of PulteGroup, Inc., valued at approximately $262,000, as part of its new position in the construction company.
• Various institutional investors have increased their holdings significantly, with some such as Stance Capital LLC raising their stakes by over 423%.
• PulteGroup's recent quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting earnings per share of $3.03, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92.

Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 2,551 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $262,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fiduciary Trust Co raised its stake in PulteGroup by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 2,593 shares of the construction company's stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its stake in PulteGroup by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 101,163 shares of the construction company's stock worth $11,017,000 after acquiring an additional 4,005 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in PulteGroup by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 10,389 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,133,000 after acquiring an additional 827 shares in the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in PulteGroup during the fourth quarter worth $958,000. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in PulteGroup during the fourth quarter worth $2,963,000. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on PHM. Zacks Research upgraded PulteGroup from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $140.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded PulteGroup from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. UBS Group raised their target price on PulteGroup from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on PulteGroup from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $136.46.

PulteGroup Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of PHM stock traded down $1.51 on Friday, reaching $137.15. 1,266,161 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,902,088. The stock has a market cap of $27.06 billion, a PE ratio of 10.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.27. PulteGroup, Inc. has a one year low of $88.07 and a one year high of $149.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $123.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.25.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The construction company reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.92 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.42 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 15.50%.The firm's revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.83 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. PulteGroup's dividend payout ratio is currently 6.58%.

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.