Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $2.80 Million Stock Position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 6.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,524 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,160 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in PulteGroup were worth $2,803,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of PulteGroup during the third quarter worth $72,000. Concord Asset Management LLC VA boosted its position in PulteGroup by 6.8% during the third quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 5,158 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. acquired a new stake in PulteGroup during the 3rd quarter worth about $215,000. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. now owns 41,116 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,901,000 after acquiring an additional 5,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, South Street Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the 3rd quarter valued at about $244,000. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of PulteGroup from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $148.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.00.

PulteGroup Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PHM opened at $135.63 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $27.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.00, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. PulteGroup, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $86.59 and a fifty-two week high of $149.47. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $136.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.17.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. This is an increase from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is currently 5.90%.

PulteGroup 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.