New York State Common Retirement Fund Reduces Stock Position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 120,223 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 6,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $13,092,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 98.7% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 12,209 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,330,000 after purchasing an additional 6,065 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 1,923 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 13,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,417,000 after buying an additional 3,105 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,890 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,730,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp increased its position in PulteGroup by 26.0% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 115,573 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,586,000 after acquiring an additional 23,863 shares during the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $146.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Friday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.86.

PulteGroup Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of PHM opened at $103.04 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $110.87 and its 200 day moving average is $125.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.13 and a 12-month high of $149.47. The company has a market capitalization of $20.86 billion, a PE ratio of 7.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.68.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a net margin of 17.18% and a return on equity of 24.43%. Research analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.98%.

PulteGroup announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to reacquire up to 6.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Brian P. Anderson sold 2,500 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.45, for a total value of $266,125.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 56,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,026,879.65. The trade was a 4.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total value of $372,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,372 shares in the company, valued at $1,209,980.80. This represents a 23.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 21,191 shares of company stock worth $2,256,367 in the last 90 days. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.