PulteGroup Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:PHM)

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 9,941 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,498% compared to the typical volume of 622 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on PHM. Raymond James upped their target price on PulteGroup from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $129.00 to $117.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. BTIG Research increased their price target on PulteGroup from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on PulteGroup from $131.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at PulteGroup

In other news, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 45,230 shares in the company, valued at $5,931,462.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of PulteGroup 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 45,230 shares in the company, valued at $5,931,462.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 71,007 shares of the company’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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 119,000 shares of company stock worth $15,814,039. 0.83% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its position in shares of PulteGroup by 54.7% in the second 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 last quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 2,329 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,092 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Patten Group Inc. grew its position in shares of PulteGroup by 2.9% in the second quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 3,805 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 2.4% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 4,774 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $575,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

PHM opened at $145.05 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $30.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.61, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.62. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $128.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $118.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. PulteGroup has a 52-week low of $68.80 and a 52-week high of $145.84.

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

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.