PulteGroup beats 4Q profit forecasts

ATLANTA (AP) _ PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter profit of $77.4 million.

On a per-share basis, the Atlanta-based company said it had profit of 26 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 85 cents per share.

The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 84 cents per share.

The homebuilder posted revenue of $2.79 billion in the period, matching Street forecasts.

For the year, the company reported profit of $447.2 million, or $1.44 per share. Revenue was reported as $8.57 billion.

PulteGroup shares have climbed 0.5 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has increased nearly 7 percent. The stock has increased 57 percent in the last 12 months.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on PHM at https://www.zacks.com/ap/PHM