Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 28,827 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. $PHM

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lowered its stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 31.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,523 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 28,827 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $6,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of PulteGroup in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC increased its position in PulteGroup by 33.3% during the second quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC now owns 420 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 188.1% in the second quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 533 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 43.8% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 571 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Finally, Pandora Wealth Inc. bought a new position in PulteGroup during the 1st quarter valued at about $97,000. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on PHM shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on PulteGroup from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on PulteGroup from $132.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on PulteGroup from $154.00 to $134.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, PulteGroup presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.67.

PulteGroup Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE PHM opened at $119.21 on Tuesday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a one year low of $88.07 and a one year high of $142.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $23.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $124.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $117.68.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The construction company reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $4.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.31 billion. PulteGroup had a net margin of 14.93% and a return on equity of 19.58%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.35 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 16th. This is an increase from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is 8.01%.

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.