Rakuten Securities Inc. Makes New Investment in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 360 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of PulteGroup during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. ORG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 3,463.6% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 392 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 91.5% during the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 427 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of PulteGroup during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 90.9% during the 1st quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 441 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

PulteGroup stock opened at $105.96 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.82. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.74 and a 1-year high of $121.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $22.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.56.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.07. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.20% and a return on equity of 25.97%. The business had revenue of $4.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.63 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 11.79 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.81%.

PulteGroup declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to buy up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on PHM shares. UBS Group downgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $93.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $91.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $116.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $126.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PulteGroup currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total transaction of $206,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 15,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,586,452.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.