LVW Advisors LLC Sells 2,659 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

LVW Advisors LLC cut its holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM - Free Report) by 27.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,953 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 2,659 shares during the quarter. LVW Advisors LLC's holdings in PulteGroup were worth $715,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PHM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in PulteGroup in the fourth quarter worth about $427,562,000. Amundi increased its position in PulteGroup by 77.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,636,562 shares of the construction company's stock worth $180,775,000 after purchasing an additional 716,716 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in PulteGroup by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,937,866 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,300,034,000 after purchasing an additional 683,592 shares during the period. Man Group plc increased its position in PulteGroup by 136.8% in the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 988,963 shares of the construction company's stock worth $107,698,000 after purchasing an additional 571,251 shares during the period. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in PulteGroup in the fourth quarter worth about $47,133,000. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PHM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on PulteGroup from $161.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $116.00 to $109.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of PulteGroup from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $134.69.

PulteGroup Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of NYSE:PHM traded up $3.28 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $101.95. 2,063,688 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,013,471. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.07 and a 52 week high of $149.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $20.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $99.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.53.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $2.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $3.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.86 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 17.18%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.10 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. PulteGroup's payout ratio is 6.21%.

PulteGroup 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.