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

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 9,941 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,498% compared to the average volume of 622 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PHM shares. Wedbush reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $131.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $148.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $145.00.

PulteGroup Stock Up 1.6 %

PHM stock traded up $2.00 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $129.48. 1,422,434 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,841,290. 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 1-year low of $86.59 and a 1-year high of $149.47. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $137.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $125.14. The company has a market cap of $26.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.63.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $4.48 billion for 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.90 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that PulteGroup will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. This is a positive change from PulteGroup's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. PulteGroup's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.90%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 71,007 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.83, for a total value of $9,573,873.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,323 shares in the company, valued at $12,043,420.09. The trade was a 44.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of the company's 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 owns 45,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,931,462.20. This represents a 29.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.83% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PulteGroup

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PHM. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in PulteGroup in the first quarter valued at $298,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of 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. purchased a new stake in shares of PulteGroup in the 1st quarter worth about $358,000. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of PulteGroup in the 1st quarter worth about $419,000. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PulteGroup in the 1st quarter worth about $237,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.