Patton Fund Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 2,161 PulteGroup, Inc. $PHM

Key Points

• Patton Fund Management Inc. acquired 2,161 shares of PulteGroup, Inc., valued at approximately $228,000, in the 2nd quarter of the year.
• Several institutional investors increased their stakes in PulteGroup, with notable boosts including a 48.4% increase by Ruffer LLP and a massive 3,568.0% increase by MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH.
• PulteGroup reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $3.03 for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, despite a year-over-year revenue decline of 4.3% to $4.40 billion.

Patton Fund Management Inc. purchased a new stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,161 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its position in PulteGroup by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 5,689 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $600,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares during the period. Ruffer LLP boosted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 48.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ruffer LLP now owns 62,701 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $6,612,000 after purchasing an additional 20,456 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH boosted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 3,568.0% in the 2nd quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 35,616 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,756,000 after purchasing an additional 34,645 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 25.5% in the 2nd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,168 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,630 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of PulteGroup from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Zacks Research raised shares of PulteGroup from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $136.46.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

PHM opened at $133.33 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company's fifty day moving average price is $128.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.43. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.07 and a 1-year high of $149.47. The company has a market cap of $26.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.96, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.26.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The construction company reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.42 billion. PulteGroup had a net margin of 15.50% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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. On average, analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. 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.

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