PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI cut their target price on 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 upped their price objective on PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on PulteGroup from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on PulteGroup from $148.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on PulteGroup from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.29.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

PHM opened at $120.69 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.15. The company has a market capitalization of $24.75 billion, a PE ratio of 8.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.62. PulteGroup has a 1 year low of $95.36 and a 1 year high of $149.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PulteGroup

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Logan Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 67.7% in the third quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,797 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,124,000 after buying an additional 5,976 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas acquired a new stake in PulteGroup during the third quarter worth approximately $2,973,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in PulteGroup by 5.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,254,274 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,647,364,000 after purchasing an additional 585,735 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its stake in PulteGroup by 50.9% during the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 5,336 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $766,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in PulteGroup by 837.9% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 173,727 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $24,935,000 after purchasing an additional 155,204 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.