Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Position in PulteGroup, Inc. $PHM

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 11,607.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,707 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 11,607 shares during the quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $1,235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PHM. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in PulteGroup during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC boosted its position in PulteGroup by 33.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC now owns 420 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. REAP Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in PulteGroup by 188.1% in the 2nd quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 533 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its position in PulteGroup by 43.8% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 571 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Finally, Pandora Wealth Inc. purchased a new position in PulteGroup in the first quarter valued at about $97,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

Shares of PHM stock opened at $127.19 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $24.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.79, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50 day moving average of $123.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $118.12. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.07 and a 52 week high of $142.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The construction company reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.10. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 14.93%.The business had revenue of $4.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.35 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 16th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is 8.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on PHM shares. Bank of America dropped their target price on PulteGroup from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 10th. Citigroup raised their price objective on PulteGroup from $132.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.67.

About PulteGroup

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.