PulteGroup Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:PHM)

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on PulteGroup from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on PulteGroup from $136.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered PulteGroup from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on PulteGroup from $160.00 to $159.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.15.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PulteGroup

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PHM. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in PulteGroup by 5.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,900,271 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,704,513,000 after buying an additional 609,640 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of PulteGroup in the second quarter valued at $404,339,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 13.3% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,623,917 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $478,828,000 after acquiring an additional 424,011 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in PulteGroup by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,634,275 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $277,811,000 after purchasing an additional 23,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in PulteGroup during the 3rd quarter worth about $315,883,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Stock Down 3.1%

PHM opened at $117.36 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $22.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.03, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.33. PulteGroup has a one year low of $88.07 and a one year high of $142.11. The business’s fifty day moving average is $121.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.46.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The construction company reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%.The business’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.35 EPS. Analysts anticipate that PulteGroup will post 12.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is a boost from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 16th. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is currently 8.01%.

PulteGroup Company Profile

PulteGroup, Inc (NYSE: PHM) is a U.S.-based residential homebuilder that designs, constructs and sells single-family homes and develops master-planned communities. The company operates multiple national and regional brands that target different buyer segments, including first-time buyers, move-up buyers and active-adult customers. Its operations encompass land acquisition and development, home design and construction, community amenities and ongoing customer service and warranty programs.

PulteGroup markets homes under several well-known brands, such as Pulte Homes, Centex and Del Webb, among others, offering a range of product types from entry-level detached homes to larger, higher-end residences and age-restricted active-adult communities.