Vontobel Holding Ltd. Purchases 13,003 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. $PHM

Key Points

• Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in PulteGroup, Inc. by 10.7% during the second quarter, now owning approximately 134,341 shares valued at $14.17 million.
• Several brokerages have raised their price targets on PulteGroup, with Citigroup increasing its target from $132 to $143 and UBS Group from $141 to $150, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• PulteGroup recently reported an earnings per share of $3.03 for the last quarter, exceeding forecasts, despite a year-over-year revenue decrease of 4.3%.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM - Free Report) by 10.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 134,341 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 13,003 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned approximately 0.07% of PulteGroup worth $14,168,000 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. Cooper Financial Group raised its position in PulteGroup by 1.4% during the second quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 6,697 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $706,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 2.0% in the first quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,062 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 3.2% in the second 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 period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 15.9% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 909 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 1.9% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,644 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $683,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on PHM. Citigroup raised their price objective on PulteGroup from $132.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $140.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn raised PulteGroup from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on PulteGroup from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on PulteGroup from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned 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 Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PHM opened at $121.27 on Friday. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $130.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.93 billion, a PE ratio of 9.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.29. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1 year low of $88.07 and a 1 year high of $149.47.

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

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. PulteGroup's payout ratio is 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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