CENTRAL TRUST Co Lowers Stock Holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. $PHM

CENTRAL TRUST Co cut its stake in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 12.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,584 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 654 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in PulteGroup in the first quarter worth approximately $213,092,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in PulteGroup by 2,586.8% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,166,902 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $119,958,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,471 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 40.3% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,486,330 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $358,395,000 after buying an additional 1,001,290 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of PulteGroup by 219.2% during the 1st quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,039,107 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $106,820,000 after buying an additional 713,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in shares of PulteGroup during the first quarter valued at $53,262,000. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE PHM opened at $118.59 on Friday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.07 and a 52 week high of $142.11. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $127.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $23.11 billion, a PE ratio of 9.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.25.

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

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $109.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on PulteGroup from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.67.

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.