Eastern Bank Cuts Holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. $PHM

Eastern Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 136,714 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,006 shares during the period. Eastern Bank owned about 0.07% of PulteGroup worth $14,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,715 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $181,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC increased its stake in PulteGroup by 96.4% in the 2nd quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 4,415 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $466,000 after purchasing an additional 2,167 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in PulteGroup by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 32,963 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,476,000 after purchasing an additional 663 shares in the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC increased its stake in PulteGroup by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 3,978 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC increased its stake in PulteGroup by 33.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC now owns 420 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on PHM. UBS Group raised their price objective on PulteGroup from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on PulteGroup from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on PulteGroup from $109.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised PulteGroup from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $136.92.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

PulteGroup stock opened at $119.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $130.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $112.93. The company has a market capitalization of $23.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.96, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.29. PulteGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.07 and a fifty-two week high of $149.47.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The construction company reported $3.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.42 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 15.50%.PulteGroup’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is currently 6.58%.

PulteGroup 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.