Versant Capital Management Inc Buys 266 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 70.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 642 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $70,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PHM. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 3,118.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 376,717 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $54,070,000 after acquiring an additional 365,012 shares during the last quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in PulteGroup by 67.7% in the 3rd quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,797 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,124,000 after purchasing an additional 5,976 shares in the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in PulteGroup in the third quarter valued at about $2,973,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 5.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,254,274 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,647,364,000 after purchasing an additional 585,735 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE PHM opened at $110.05 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $22.57 billion, a PE ratio of 8.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.67. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $124.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.88. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.68 and a 12-month high of $149.47.

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

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is currently 6.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PHM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 price target (down previously from $150.00) on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wedbush raised PulteGroup from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on PulteGroup from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.14.

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.