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

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PulteGroup

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PHM. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in PulteGroup by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,875 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 1.0% in the second quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,760 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 4.2% in the third quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 2,163 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group grew its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 1.4% during the second quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 6,697 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $706,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 0.6% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 14,308 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,890,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PHM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. UBS Group upped their target price on PulteGroup from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price target (up from $115.00) on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on PulteGroup from $109.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on PulteGroup from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.67.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

PHM opened at $120.72 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $23.53 billion, a PE ratio of 9.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.80. PulteGroup has a fifty-two week low of $88.07 and a fifty-two week high of $142.11.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The construction company reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.31 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 14.93%.PulteGroup’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.35 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that PulteGroup will post 12.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.77%.

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.