Standard & Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its BB+ corporatecredit rating on PulteGroup Inc.,saying the company's business risk profile has improved to "satisfactory"from "fair."

The ratings outlook is stable.

S&P said it expects the homebuilder's profitability to be"less volatile" than in previous years and noted that its financial riskhas been steady, with leverage below 3x EBITDA.

The stable outlook, meanwhile, is predicated on the rating agency'sprojection that operating conditions over the next year will remain favorable, withhousing starts expected to increase roughly 10%.

S&P Ratings and S&PGlobal Market Intelligence are owned by S&P Global Inc.