Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM)

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 9,941 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,498% compared to the average daily volume of 622 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Citigroup dropped their target price on PulteGroup from $129.00 to $117.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, BTIG Research raised their target price on PulteGroup from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PulteGroup news, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total value of $2,491,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,931,462.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other PulteGroup news, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total transaction of $2,491,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 45,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,931,462.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 71,007 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.83, for a total transaction of $9,573,873.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 89,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,043,420.09. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 119,000 shares of company stock valued at $15,814,039. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Greenhaven Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 5,593,179 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $802,789,000 after acquiring an additional 16,871 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in PulteGroup by 8.6% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,968,788 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $326,864,000 after purchasing an additional 235,826 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in PulteGroup by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,529,698 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $168,254,000 after purchasing an additional 250,937 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 18.4% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,085,939 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $130,986,000 after purchasing an additional 168,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 5.9% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 964,422 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $106,183,000 after buying an additional 53,924 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

PulteGroup stock opened at $145.96 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.69, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $135.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $122.22. PulteGroup has a fifty-two week low of $68.80 and a fifty-two week high of $147.46.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $3.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.56. The company had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.49 billion. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.75% and a return on equity of 25.67%. PulteGroup’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.00 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that PulteGroup will post 12.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 17th. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is 6.41%.

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.