Dean Investment Associates LLC Sells 2,220 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Dean Investment Associates LLC reduced its stake in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,378 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,220 shares during the period. Dean Investment Associates LLC’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $2,328,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of PulteGroup by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 622 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,572 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,224 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,440,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its position in PulteGroup by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,384 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,050 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PulteGroup Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of PulteGroup stock opened at $94.87 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $102.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $116.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.45, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.44. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.07 and a 12-month high of $149.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 17.18%. Analysts predict that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, January 30th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the construction company to buy up to 6.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total value of $372,400.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,372 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,980.80. This represents a 23.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Todd N. Sheldon sold 15,191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.50, for a total transaction of $1,617,841.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,961,727. This represents a 16.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 21,191 shares of company stock valued at $2,256,367. 0.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PHM shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Bank of America cut their price target on PulteGroup from $135.00 to $134.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on PulteGroup from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.21.

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.