Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. Acquires New Holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. $PHM

Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 123,952 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,535,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 2.8% during the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,875 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 2,350 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,672 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,169 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 1.0% during the third quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 10,520 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,390,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $149.00 to $131.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of PulteGroup from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.71.

Insider Transactions at PulteGroup

In related news, Director Lila Snyder sold 3,339 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.18, for a total transaction of $391,264.02. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $414,817.20. The trade was a 48.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Matthew William Koart sold 7,457 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $894,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 28,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,372,000. The trade was a 20.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

PulteGroup Price Performance

NYSE:PHM opened at $118.38 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $119.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.05. The firm has a market cap of $22.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.45, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.20. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 52-week low of $95.20 and a 52-week high of $144.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.40 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 16.41% and a net margin of 12.14%.PulteGroup’s revenue was down 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.57 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 10 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is presently 10.06%.

PulteGroup declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to buy up to 6.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

PulteGroup Profile

PulteGroup, Inc (NYSE: PHM) is a U.S.-based residential homebuilder that designs, constructs and sells single-family homes and develops master-planned communities. The company operates multiple national and regional brands that target different buyer segments, including first-time buyers, move-up buyers and active-adult customers. Its operations encompass land acquisition and development, home design and construction, community amenities and ongoing customer service and warranty programs.

PulteGroup markets homes under several well-known brands, such as Pulte Homes, Centex and Del Webb, among others, offering a range of product types from entry-level detached homes to larger, higher-end residences and age-restricted active-adult communities.