Barclays Reaffirms Equal Weight Rating for PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM)

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Barclays in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $140.00 target price on the construction company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $150.00. Barclays‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 11.67% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on PHM. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $148.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on PulteGroup from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on PulteGroup from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.29.

PulteGroup Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE PHM opened at $125.37 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. PulteGroup has a 1 year low of $95.36 and a 1 year high of $149.47. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $134.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.11. The firm has a market cap of $25.71 billion, a PE ratio of 9.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.62.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.27 billion. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.64% and a return on equity of 25.30%. PulteGroup’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that PulteGroup will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PHM. FMR LLC lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 102.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,040,828 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,297,630,000 after acquiring an additional 4,571,757 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 5.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,254,274 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,647,364,000 after purchasing an additional 585,735 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in PulteGroup during the third quarter worth about $66,485,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in PulteGroup by 357.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 521,958 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $74,917,000 after purchasing an additional 407,764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in PulteGroup by 1,020.0% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 435,925 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $62,568,000 after buying an additional 397,003 shares during the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.