Ascent Group LLC Purchases 825 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,013 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 825 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 54.7% during the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 232 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 115.1% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 185 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of PulteGroup during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. bought a new stake in shares of PulteGroup during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research cut shares of PulteGroup from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on PulteGroup from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $148.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PulteGroup has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.00.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

NYSE:PHM opened at $133.98 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.62. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $135.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1 year low of $89.81 and a 1 year high of $149.47.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.27 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.30% and a net margin of 16.64%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.90 EPS. On average, analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This is a boost from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is 5.90%.

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.