Atria Investments Inc Has $1.95 Million Stock Position in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM)

Atria Investments Inc cut its holdings in PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 13,557 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,148 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in PulteGroup were worth $1,946,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in PulteGroup by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,598 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Carson Advisory Inc. bought a new position in PulteGroup in the third quarter valued at approximately $208,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in PulteGroup during the third quarter valued at approximately $7,392,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of PulteGroup during the 3rd quarter worth $231,000. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 1,490.0% in the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 954 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 894 shares during the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

PulteGroup Stock Up 1.6 %

PHM stock opened at $129.48 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $137.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.14. PulteGroup, Inc. has a 1-year low of $86.59 and a 1-year high of $149.47.

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

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The firm 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 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 5.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PHM shares. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on PulteGroup from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. BTIG Research increased their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on PulteGroup from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PulteGroup currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.