PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) to Buyback $1.50 billion in Shares

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, January 30th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to buy up to 6.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PHM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group upgraded PulteGroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $154.00 to $148.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on PulteGroup from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $146.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.29.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PHM opened at $118.47 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $24.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a PEG ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.67. PulteGroup has a 12 month low of $100.24 and a 12 month high of $149.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $118.23 and its 200 day moving average is $127.48.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.64% and a return on equity of 25.30%. Research analysts predict that PulteGroup will post 12.96 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. This is an increase from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.49%.

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.