Investors Buy Large Volume of PulteGroup Call Options (NYSE:PHM)

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 9,941 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 1,498% compared to the average volume of 622 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on PHM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays reduced their price objective on PulteGroup from $125.00 to $117.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup dropped their price target on PulteGroup from $146.00 to $119.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.86.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PHM opened at $105.29 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $108.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. PulteGroup has a 1 year low of $100.54 and a 1 year high of $149.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.71.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.28 by $0.22. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 24.43% and a net margin of 17.18%. As a group, research analysts predict that PulteGroup will post 12.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is currently 5.98%.

PulteGroup announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, January 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to reacquire up to 6.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total transaction of $372,400.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,209,980.80. The trade was a 23.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian P. Anderson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.45, for a total value of $266,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,026,879.65. The trade was a 4.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,191 shares of company stock worth $2,256,367 over the last three months. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of PulteGroup

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. 111 Capital purchased a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the fourth quarter worth about $240,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its position in PulteGroup by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 125,174 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $13,631,000 after acquiring an additional 1,579 shares during the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH increased its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 99.4% in the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 4,591 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $500,000 after buying an additional 2,289 shares during the period. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of PulteGroup in the fourth quarter valued at about $168,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in PulteGroup during the 4th quarter valued at $16,223,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Company 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.