Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Has $28.71 Million Stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 785.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 200,000 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 177,400 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $28,706,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in PulteGroup by 102.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,040,828 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,297,630,000 after acquiring an additional 4,571,757 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. lifted its position in PulteGroup by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 5,593,179 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $802,789,000 after acquiring an additional 16,871 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in PulteGroup by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,968,788 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $326,864,000 after acquiring an additional 235,826 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 19.6% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,529,698 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $168,254,000 after buying an additional 250,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 6.3% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,025,276 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $147,158,000 after buying an additional 60,854 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PHM. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wolfe Research lowered shares of PulteGroup from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.00.

PulteGroup Price Performance

Shares of PulteGroup stock opened at $136.53 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.63. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1-year low of $86.59 and a 1-year high of $149.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $136.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.25.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.27 billion. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.64% and a return on equity of 25.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. This is a boost from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.49%.

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.