Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 196 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 14,261 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 196 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in PulteGroup were worth $1,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in PulteGroup by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,254,274 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,647,364,000 after acquiring an additional 585,735 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 4,571,757 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 135,391 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in PulteGroup by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,424,119 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $155,856,000 after acquiring an additional 129,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in PulteGroup by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,025,276 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $147,158,000 after acquiring an additional 60,854 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PulteGroup Trading Down 2.6 %

NYSE PHM opened at $103.04 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.40. The stock has a market cap of $20.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.68. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.13 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 24.43%. On average, analysts forecast that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to reacquire up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Todd N. Sheldon sold 15,191 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,961,727. This trade represents a 16.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total transaction of $372,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,209,980.80. This trade represents a 23.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 21,191 shares of company stock valued at $2,256,367. Insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $146.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $125.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PulteGroup has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $140.86.

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.