PulteGroup Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:PHM)

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 9,941 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,498% compared to the typical daily volume of 622 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PHM. Wolfe Research cut shares of PulteGroup from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of PulteGroup from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Barclays upped their target price on PulteGroup from $131.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on PulteGroup from $141.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PulteGroup has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at PulteGroup

In other PulteGroup 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,043,420.09. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now directly 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 71,007 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of PulteGroup

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 463 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 54.7% during the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 232 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 17.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 565 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners grew its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 5,002 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $718,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 2,329 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. 89.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PulteGroup Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of PHM opened at $130.30 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $137.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $123.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $26.72 billion, a PE ratio of 10.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.62. PulteGroup has a fifty-two week low of $72.45 and a fifty-two week high of $149.47.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $4.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.27 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.30% and a net margin of 16.64%. PulteGroup’s revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.90 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that PulteGroup will post 12.98 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.41%.

About PulteGroup

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.