Stock Traders Buy High Volume of PulteGroup Call Options (NYSE:PHM)

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 9,941 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,498% compared to the average volume of 622 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PHM. Wolfe Research downgraded PulteGroup from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Barclays increased their price target on PulteGroup from $131.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on PulteGroup from $148.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on PulteGroup from $141.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 71,007 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.83, for a total transaction of $9,573,873.81. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 89,323 shares in the company, valued at $12,043,420.09. This trade represents a 44.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total transaction of $2,491,660.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,931,462.20. The trade was a 29.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PulteGroup

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in PulteGroup in the first quarter worth $298,000. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in PulteGroup by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 13,888 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,675,000 after buying an additional 1,665 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in PulteGroup in the 1st quarter worth about $358,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in PulteGroup in the 1st quarter worth about $419,000. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in PulteGroup in the 1st quarter worth about $237,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Price Performance

Shares of PulteGroup stock traded down $0.33 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $129.11. 67,272 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,833,300. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $137.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. PulteGroup has a 12 month low of $86.59 and a 12 month high of $149.47. The stock has a market cap of $26.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.55, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.63.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $4.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.27 billion. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.64% and a return on equity of 25.30%. The business’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that PulteGroup will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.90%.

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.