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

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) was the target of unusually large 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.

Insider Transactions at PulteGroup

In other news, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 71,007 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.83, for a total transaction of $9,573,873.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,043,420.09. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Thomas J. Folliard sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.14, for a total value of $2,491,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 45,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,931,462.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert Oshaughnessy sold 71,007 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 89,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,043,420.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 119,000 shares of company stock worth $15,814,039 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.83% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PulteGroup

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Putnam Investments LLC lifted its holdings in PulteGroup by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 11,008,695 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,136,318,000 after acquiring an additional 197,656 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in PulteGroup in the fourth quarter worth about $381,960,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in PulteGroup by 8.6% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,968,788 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $326,864,000 after acquiring an additional 235,826 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in PulteGroup by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,892,229 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $195,316,000 after acquiring an additional 523,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 19.6% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,529,698 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $168,254,000 after buying an additional 250,937 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

Shares of PHM stock opened at $128.29 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. PulteGroup has a one year low of $68.80 and a one year high of $136.47. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $122.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.27, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.62.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $3.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.27 by $0.56. PulteGroup had a net margin of 16.75% and a return on equity of 25.67%. The business had revenue of $4.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.00 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on PulteGroup from $129.00 to $117.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. BTIG Research increased their price target on PulteGroup from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on PulteGroup from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Raymond James raised their target price on PulteGroup from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded PulteGroup from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.14.

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.