PulteGroup (PHM) Stock Rising on New Home Sales Figures

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of PulteGroup (PHM) - Get Report are higher by 3.25% to $18.40 on Tuesday morning, as some homebuilder stocks rally following the latest new single family home sales figures for the month of April.

The Commerce Department announced on Tuesday that new home sales soared  by 16.6% from the month before to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 619,000 units.

This is the highest level since January 2008 and the largest percent increase since 1992, Reuters reports. Analysts had estimated for 520,000 units for April.

New home sales tend to be volatile from month to month and April's rise is likely exaggerating the strength of the housing market, Reuters noted.

PulteGroup is an Atlanta-based homebuilding company that is also engaged in mortgage operations and title operations.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings has set a "hold" rating and a score of C+ on PulteGroup stock. The primary factors that have impacted the rating are mixed - some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks.

The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and impressive record of earnings per share growth. However, as a counter to these strengths, TheStreet Ratings also finds weaknesses including weak operating cash flow, poor profit margins and a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself.

TheStreet Ratings objectively rated this stock according to its "risk-adjusted" total return prospect over a 12-month investment horizon. Not based on the news in any given day, the rating may differ from Jim Cramer's view or that of this articles's author.

You can view the full analysis from the report here: PHM