PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• PulteGroup, Inc. has received an average analyst recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from fifteen analysts, with a majority favoring buy ratings and one strong buy rating.
• The company's stock experienced a 1.7% decline, with its current market price at $128.68, and it has reported a quarterly earnings per share of $3.03, exceeding expectations.
• PulteGroup will be paying a $0.22 quarterly dividend to shareholders on October 2nd, translating to an annualized yield of 0.7%.

Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $136.4615.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PHM shares. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on PulteGroup from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on PulteGroup from $109.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised PulteGroup from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd.

Institutional Trading of PulteGroup

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 20.5% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 15,388 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,582,000 after buying an additional 2,613 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 1,311.3% during the 1st quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 312,723 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $32,148,000 after purchasing an additional 290,564 shares during the period. Hudson Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Hudson Capital Management LLC now owns 41,305 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $4,246,000 after purchasing an additional 3,266 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 103,800.0% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 5,195 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 5,190 shares during the period. Finally, Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 42.1% during the 1st quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 770 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PulteGroup Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:PHM opened at $128.68 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $25.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.62, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. PulteGroup has a 12-month low of $88.07 and a 12-month high of $149.47. The business's 50 day moving average is $127.11 and its 200 day moving average is $110.92.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 15.50%.PulteGroup's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.83 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that PulteGroup will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. PulteGroup's payout ratio is currently 6.58%.

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.

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