Boston, MA 06/26/2013 (wallstreetpr) – Equities research analyst major Goldman Sachs has announced that it has initiated coverage on shares of Pulte Group (NYSE:PHM) with a “sell” rating and has given the target price of $18 on the stock as per TheFlyOnTheWall.com website. Stock was up by 3.88% to close at $19.02 in yesterday’s trade.
Such a rating is driven by two prime reasons: (1) Pulte has less geographical exposure with presence in slower growing markets like Washington D.C, Baltimore and New York, and (2) Pulte’s strategy to consolidate rather than expand during the coming years by cutting its expenditure on land and refraining from entering new markets.
Pulte has however succeeded in its turnaround mission after its successful acquisition of Centex Corp. However, land acquisition remains a major issue for PHM, which has shrunk ever since 2009. On one hand, this approach may turn out to be advantageous for PHM as large investments have to be worked down during the last cycle. But on the negative side, it is likely to hamper growth. Pulte has ever since focused on improving its margins and returns. The gross margins seems to get fair in future as the company is now shifting to its re-engineered homes that carry higher gross margins, but the full impact will take time and thus puts the company on the same footing as others.
A number of other analysts have too put a rating on the stocks of PHM. Analysts at Zacks have put a neutral rating on its stock in a research note to investors dated June 19th. They have set a price objective of $23 on the stock. Contrary to this, analysts at The Street have put a ‘buy’ rating on shares of PHM in a research note dated May 28th. Also, analysts at Sterne Agee have raised their EPS on shares of PHM in a research note dated May 24th. They have put a buy rating with $ 32 as the price objective for the stock.
PulteGroup, Inc (NYSE: PHM) is a homebuilder in the United States.
