Avestar Capital LLC Takes $309,000 Position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Avestar Capital LLC purchased a new stake in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,151 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $309,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft purchased a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the second quarter valued at $629,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of PulteGroup by 128.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 94,588 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $11,409,000 after purchasing an additional 53,175 shares in the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC grew its position in PulteGroup by 10,625.8% during the third quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 9,546 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,370,000 after buying an additional 9,457 shares in the last quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department grew its position in PulteGroup by 39.8% during the third quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 39,589 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,682,000 after buying an additional 11,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in PulteGroup by 3.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 331,553 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $39,993,000 after buying an additional 12,164 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PulteGroup Trading Up 0.7 %

PHM opened at $136.53 on Thursday. PulteGroup, Inc. has a one year low of $86.59 and a one year high of $149.47. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $136.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.25. 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 capitalization of $28.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.07, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.63.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.25. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.30% and a net margin of 16.64%. The firm had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that PulteGroup, Inc. will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on PulteGroup from $148.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on PulteGroup from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Wolfe Research cut PulteGroup from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on PulteGroup from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BTIG Research upped their price objective on PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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, PulteGroup currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.00.

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.