Wells Fargo & Company Cuts PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) Price Target to $140.00

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) had its price target lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $165.00 to $140.00 in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the construction company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on PHM. Bank of America raised their price target on PulteGroup from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $148.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.71.

PulteGroup Stock Down 2.2 %

PHM stock opened at $108.89 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $130.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $127.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.03, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.62. PulteGroup has a fifty-two week low of $99.03 and a fifty-two week high of $149.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73.

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

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This is an increase from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. WR Wealth Planners LLC lifted its holdings 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 lifted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 115.1% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 185 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PulteGroup in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PulteGroup in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. acquired a new position in shares of PulteGroup during the second quarter worth about $33,000. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.