PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) PT Raised to $136.00

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by analysts at Barclays from $126.00 to $136.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the construction company's stock. Barclays's target price points to a potential upside of 19.47% from the stock's current price.

PHM has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group lowered PulteGroup from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $93.00 to $120.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Raymond James increased their target price on PulteGroup from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on PulteGroup from $91.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered PulteGroup from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $105.53.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

NYSE PHM traded down $1.78 on Thursday, reaching $113.84. The stock had a trading volume of 1,753,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,815,245. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $109.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.21. PulteGroup has a 1-year low of $57.26 and a 1-year high of $121.07. The company has a market cap of $24.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.56.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.21 by $0.07. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.97% and a net margin of 16.20%. The firm had revenue of $4.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.63 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that PulteGroup will post 11.78 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to repurchase up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at PulteGroup

In other news, VP Brien P. O'meara sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total transaction of $206,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 15,389 shares in the company, valued at $1,586,452.01. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PulteGroup

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,594 shares of the construction company's stock worth $371,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,583 shares of the construction company's stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 3,102 shares of the construction company's stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 43,391 shares of the construction company's stock worth $4,479,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in PulteGroup by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 8,165 shares of the construction company's stock worth $843,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.