Bank of America Boosts PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) Price Target to $160.00

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) had its target price lifted by Bank of America from $138.00 to $160.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the construction company’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Raymond James upped their price target on PulteGroup from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on PulteGroup from $129.00 to $117.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on PulteGroup from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded PulteGroup from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $134.71.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PHM opened at $141.86 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $128.95 and a 200 day moving average of $118.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $29.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.62. PulteGroup has a 52 week low of $68.80 and a 52 week high of $145.84.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.56. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.67% and a net margin of 16.75%. The firm had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.00 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that PulteGroup will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is 6.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 71,007 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.83, for a total value of $9,573,873.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 89,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,043,420.09. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other PulteGroup news, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 71,007 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.83, for a total value of $9,573,873.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,043,420.09. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total transaction of $2,491,660.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 45,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,931,462.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 119,000 shares of company stock valued at $15,814,039. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PulteGroup

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 27,269 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,289,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 166.6% during the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 13,146 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,586,000 after buying an additional 8,215 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in PulteGroup by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 297,544 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $35,890,000 after acquiring an additional 17,369 shares during the period. Personal CFO Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in PulteGroup in the 4th quarter worth $719,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in PulteGroup by 4.9% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 621,064 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $74,913,000 after acquiring an additional 28,774 shares during the period. 89.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.