PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) saw a large decline in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,250,000 shares, a decline of 18.4% from the October 15th total of 6,430,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,800,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PHM shares. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of PulteGroup from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.00.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

NYSE:PHM traded down $0.55 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $128.89. 1,499,252 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,839,799. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.63. PulteGroup has a twelve month low of $86.59 and a twelve month high of $149.47. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $137.31 and a 200 day moving average of $125.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.27 billion. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.64% and a return on equity of 25.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.90 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that PulteGroup will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This is a positive change from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is 5.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total value of $2,491,660.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 45,230 shares in the company, valued at $5,931,462.20. The trade was a 29.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $9,573,873.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 89,323 shares in the company, valued at $12,043,420.09. The trade was a 44.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.83% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PulteGroup

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 102.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,040,828 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,297,630,000 after purchasing an additional 4,571,757 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 5,593,179 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $802,789,000 after purchasing an additional 16,871 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,968,788 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $326,864,000 after purchasing an additional 235,826 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,864,040 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $267,546,000 after purchasing an additional 135,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,529,698 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $168,254,000 after purchasing an additional 250,937 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

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.