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

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PulteGroup

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Logan Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 67.7% in the 3rd quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,797 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,124,000 after purchasing an additional 5,976 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of PulteGroup by 38.1% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 121,299 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $17,410,000 after acquiring an additional 33,472 shares during the last quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department increased its position in shares of PulteGroup by 39.8% in the third quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 39,589 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,682,000 after acquiring an additional 11,269 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its position in shares of PulteGroup by 3.9% in the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 130,257 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $18,696,000 after acquiring an additional 4,840 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC increased its position in PulteGroup by 10,625.8% during the third quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 9,546 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,370,000 after buying an additional 9,457 shares during the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PulteGroup Price Performance

NYSE PHM opened at $116.56 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $119.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.90 billion, a PE ratio of 8.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.67. PulteGroup has a twelve month low of $100.24 and a twelve month high of $149.47.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The construction company reported $3.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.25. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.30% and a net margin of 16.64%. The company had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.90 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that PulteGroup will post 12.96 EPS for the current year.

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. This is a boost from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BTIG Research boosted their price objective 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 raised PulteGroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $154.00 to $148.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on PulteGroup from $162.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wedbush upgraded PulteGroup from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on PulteGroup from $198.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PulteGroup has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.14.

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.