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

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on PulteGroup from $148.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. BTIG Research increased their price target on PulteGroup from $139.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wolfe Research cut PulteGroup from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of PulteGroup in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $138.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.00.

PulteGroup Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE PHM opened at $136.53 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.00 billion, a PE ratio of 10.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.63. PulteGroup has a 1-year low of $86.59 and a 1-year high of $149.47. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $136.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $126.25.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.27 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.30% and a net margin of 16.64%. The business’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PulteGroup will post 12.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This is a boost from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is 6.49%.

Institutional Trading of PulteGroup

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PHM. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in PulteGroup by 5.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,254,274 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,647,364,000 after purchasing an additional 585,735 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 102.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,040,828 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,297,630,000 after buying an additional 4,571,757 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 5,593,179 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $802,789,000 after acquiring an additional 16,871 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,968,788 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $326,864,000 after acquiring an additional 235,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,864,040 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $267,546,000 after acquiring an additional 135,391 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.