Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 440,758 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. $PHM

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership trimmed its position in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 44.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 544,415 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 440,758 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $57,414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,290,631 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,296,170,000 after acquiring an additional 95,058 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in PulteGroup in the second quarter worth $404,339,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in PulteGroup by 40.3% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,486,330 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $358,395,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001,290 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 11.8% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,570,022 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $264,216,000 after purchasing an additional 271,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in PulteGroup during the first quarter valued at $213,092,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Stock Down 1.9%

NYSE:PHM opened at $127.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $24.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.31. PulteGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.07 and a fifty-two week high of $142.11. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $123.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $118.79.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The construction company reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $4.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.35 earnings per share. Analysts predict that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 16th. This is a positive change from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is 6.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PHM shares. Zacks Research raised shares of PulteGroup from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Monday. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $132.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $154.00 to $134.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, BTIG Research started coverage on PulteGroup in a research report on Monday. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.67.

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.