PulteGroup, Inc. $PHM Shares Acquired by Clough Capital Partners L P

Key Points

• Clough Capital Partners L P increased its stake in PulteGroup by 29.4%, acquiring an additional 36,170 shares during the first quarter, bringing their total holdings to 159,139 shares.
• Analysts are optimistic about PulteGroup, with firms like Oppenheimer and JPMorgan raising their price targets and issuing ratings ranging from "outperform" to "strong-buy."
• PulteGroup reported earnings of $3.03 per share, surpassing expectations, although its revenue decreased by 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Clough Capital Partners L P boosted its position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM - Free Report) by 29.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 159,139 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 36,170 shares during the quarter. PulteGroup comprises 2.0% of Clough Capital Partners L P's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Clough Capital Partners L P owned approximately 0.08% of PulteGroup worth $16,359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of PulteGroup during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in PulteGroup by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,425,941 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $264,185,000 after purchasing an additional 315,148 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its position in PulteGroup by 43.9% during the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 3,908 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,238,096 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $134,829,000 after acquiring an additional 118,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 5,174 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PHM. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $140.00 target price (up previously from $115.00) on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of PulteGroup from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $136.46.

PulteGroup Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of PHM stock traded up $2.83 on Wednesday, reaching $134.92. 436,627 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,145,937. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $118.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.62 billion, a PE ratio of 10.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.27. 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 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 15.50%.The company had revenue of $4.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.83 EPS. PulteGroup's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current year.

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.