PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) Short Interest Down 18.4% in October

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,250,000 shares, a decrease of 18.4% from the October 15th total of 6,430,000 shares. Currently, 2.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,800,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

Shares of PHM traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $128.89. 1,509,994 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,026,295. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $137.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.43 billion, a PE ratio of 9.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.63. PulteGroup has a 52-week low of $86.59 and a 52-week high of $149.47. 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 (NYSE:PHM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.25. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.64% and a return on equity of 25.30%. The company had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.90 EPS. PulteGroup’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that PulteGroup will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This is an increase from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PHM. FMR LLC grew its position in PulteGroup by 102.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,040,828 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,297,630,000 after buying an additional 4,571,757 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of PulteGroup in the first quarter valued at about $68,985,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in shares of PulteGroup during the third quarter worth about $66,485,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 357.1% during the third 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 raised its holdings in PulteGroup by 1,020.0% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 435,925 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $62,568,000 after purchasing an additional 397,003 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PHM shares. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on PulteGroup from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.00.

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.