Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $73,000 in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 73,181 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Logan Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 67.7% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in PulteGroup by 38.1% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 121,299 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $17,410,000 after purchasing an additional 33,472 shares in the last quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 39.8% during the third quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 39,589 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,682,000 after purchasing an additional 11,269 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 130,257 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $18,696,000 after purchasing an additional 4,840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nilsine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 929.2% in the 4th quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 20,574 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,240,000 after purchasing an additional 18,575 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PHM. UBS Group boosted their target price on PulteGroup from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $135.00 to $134.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $146.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PulteGroup currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.86.

PulteGroup Trading Down 2.5 %

NYSE PHM opened at $100.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. PulteGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.54 and a fifty-two week high of $149.47. The stock has a market cap of $20.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.71. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.40.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.98%.

PulteGroup announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the construction company to reacquire up to 6.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PulteGroup news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 11,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,209,980.80. This represents a 23.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Todd N. Sheldon sold 15,191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.50, for a total value of $1,617,841.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,961,727. This represents a 16.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,191 shares of company stock valued at $2,256,367 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

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.