Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,583 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 913 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 311,097 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $34,252,000 after acquiring an additional 4,588 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 11.4% during the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 331,214 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $36,467,000 after buying an additional 33,808 shares in the last quarter. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. purchased a new stake in PulteGroup during the second quarter worth $3,943,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 4.7% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 26,269 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,892,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171 shares during the period. Finally, Andra AP fonden increased its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 230,100 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,334,000 after purchasing an additional 9,800 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PulteGroup Price Performance

NYSE:PHM opened at $139.54 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.80 and a 52 week high of $140.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $125.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.43.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.49 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.67% and a net margin of 16.75%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.00 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.9 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total value of $2,491,660.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 45,230 shares in the company, valued at $5,931,462.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total transaction of $2,491,660.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 45,230 shares in the company, valued at $5,931,462.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 28,993 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.29, for a total transaction of $3,748,504.97. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 160,330 shares in the company, valued at $20,729,065.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 119,000 shares of company stock worth $15,814,039 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on PHM. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on PulteGroup from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $129.00 to $117.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $131.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on PulteGroup from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.14.

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.