Sanctuary Advisors LLC Decreases Position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC cut its stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 12.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 106,762 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 14,537 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $12,652,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PHM. Creative Planning lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,639 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,393,000 after buying an additional 901 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,732 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $392,000 after buying an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 3,319 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $476,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,411 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $633,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roof Eidam Maycock Peralta LLC lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Roof Eidam Maycock Peralta LLC now owns 14,480 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,078,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on PHM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, BTIG Research raised 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PulteGroup news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total value of $372,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,372 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,980.80. The trade was a 23.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Brian P. Anderson sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.45, for a total transaction of $266,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 56,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,026,879.65. This trade represents a 4.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,191 shares of company stock worth $2,256,367 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE PHM opened at $105.63 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $125.93. The company has a market capitalization of $21.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.73. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1 year low of $100.24 and a 1 year high of $149.47.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 24.43%. On average, equities research analysts predict that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.43 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.98%.

PulteGroup announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to repurchase up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

PulteGroup 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.