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

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PHM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on PulteGroup from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. BTIG Research raised their target price on PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upgraded PulteGroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $154.00 to $148.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush upgraded PulteGroup from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.86.

Institutional Trading of PulteGroup

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in PulteGroup by 115.1% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 185 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of PulteGroup during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Candriam S.C.A. acquired a new stake in PulteGroup in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. JNBA Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in PulteGroup in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 1,059.3% during the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 313 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PulteGroup Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of PHM opened at $110.41 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $122.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.84. PulteGroup has a 12-month low of $100.24 and a 12-month high of $149.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.67.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.25. The firm 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that PulteGroup will post 12.94 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a positive change from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is 6.49%.

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.