ING Groep NV Decreases Stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

ING Groep NV cut its stake in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 52.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,754 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 30,250 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $3,984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of PulteGroup by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 13,888 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,665 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in PulteGroup in the first quarter valued at $358,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in PulteGroup in the first quarter valued at $419,000. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in PulteGroup during the 1st quarter worth about $237,000. Finally, SageView Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of PulteGroup during the 1st quarter worth about $297,000. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PHM shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on PulteGroup from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $141.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of PulteGroup from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $131.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Six 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.00.

Insider Activity at PulteGroup

In other news, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 71,007 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.83, for a total transaction of $9,573,873.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,043,420.09. This trade represents a 44.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total value of $2,491,660.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 45,230 shares in the company, valued at $5,931,462.20. This trade represents a 29.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

NYSE:PHM opened at $128.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $26.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $137.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.17. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1-year low of $86.59 and a 1-year high of $149.47.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.25. The business 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%. The business’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This is a boost from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.90%.

About PulteGroup

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.