Bison Wealth LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Bison Wealth LLC trimmed its stake in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 14.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,897 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 833 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $505,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PHM. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 9.5% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 55,196 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,313,000 after purchasing an additional 4,799 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC purchased a new stake in PulteGroup during the first quarter valued at approximately $221,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in PulteGroup by 1.7% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 22,505 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in PulteGroup by 11.1% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,487 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $188,000 after buying an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in PulteGroup by 26.7% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 70,856 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,969,000 after buying an additional 14,918 shares during the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on PHM. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $103.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group cut shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $93.00 to $120.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $116.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.47.

PulteGroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PHM opened at $106.88 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $110.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.71. PulteGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $59.95 and a fifty-two week high of $121.07. The firm has a market cap of $22.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.56.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.21 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.47 billion. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.20% and a return on equity of 25.97%. PulteGroup’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is 6.81%.

PulteGroup announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to buy up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at PulteGroup

In other news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total value of $206,180.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 15,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,586,452.01. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.