Stance Capital LLC Grows Stock Position in PulteGroup, Inc. $PHM

Key Points

• Stance Capital LLC significantly increased its holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. by 423.3%, owning 7,316 shares valued at $752,000 after purchasing an additional 5,918 shares in Q1.
• Several institutional investors, including UniSuper Management and MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS, also boosted their stakes in PulteGroup, reflecting a strong institutional interest with 89.90% of the company's stock owned by such investors.
• PulteGroup recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, leading to an annualized yield of 0.6%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 16th.

Stance Capital LLC increased its position in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM - Free Report) by 423.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,316 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,918 shares during the period. Stance Capital LLC's holdings in PulteGroup were worth $752,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PHM. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its stake in PulteGroup by 9.5% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 24,289 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,497,000 after acquiring an additional 2,114 shares during the last quarter. Petrus Trust Company LTA acquired a new position in PulteGroup during the first quarter worth $490,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 16.1% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 34,512 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,548,000 after buying an additional 4,793 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 52,149 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $5,361,000 after acquiring an additional 5,471 shares during the period. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp purchased a new stake in PulteGroup during the 1st quarter worth approximately $231,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.90% of the company's stock.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

PulteGroup stock traded down $1.23 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $135.49. 2,184,355 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,161,025. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $122.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.78. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.07 and a 12-month high of $149.47. The stock has a market cap of $26.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

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

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on PHM. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded PulteGroup from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $136.46.

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.