PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) to Repurchase $1.50 billion in Shares

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, January 30th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to purchase up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PHM shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BTIG Research raised their target price on PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com downgraded PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.29.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

PulteGroup stock traded up $5.48 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $118.47. 3,734,440 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,197,820. PulteGroup has a 12 month low of $100.24 and a 12 month high of $149.47. The firm has a market cap of $24.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $118.23 and a 200 day moving average of $127.48.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.30% and a net margin of 16.64%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that PulteGroup will post 12.96 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a positive change from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is 6.49%.

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.