Panagora Asset Management Inc. Sells 114,152 Shares of PulteGroup, Inc. $PHM

Panagora Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 96.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,639 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 114,152 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $384,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PHM. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 105 shares during the period. REAP Financial Group LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 43.8% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 571 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in PulteGroup in the 2nd quarter valued at about $64,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PHM shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on PulteGroup from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on PulteGroup from $154.00 to $134.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.67.

PulteGroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PHM opened at $126.96 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $123.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.75 billion, a PE ratio of 9.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. PulteGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.07 and a fifty-two week high of $142.11.

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

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 16th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is currently 8.01%.

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.