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

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 9,941 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,498% compared to the typical daily volume of 622 call options.

Insider Activity at PulteGroup

In other news, VP Brien P. O’meara sold 2,000 shares of PulteGroup stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.09, for a total transaction of $206,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 15,389 shares in the company, valued at $1,586,452.01. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.83% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PulteGroup

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PHM. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of PulteGroup by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 753,768 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $78,030,000 after buying an additional 28,833 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in PulteGroup by 24.9% during the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 26,341 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,951,000 after purchasing an additional 5,257 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in PulteGroup by 65.0% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 224,978 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $16,660,000 after purchasing an additional 88,638 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in PulteGroup during the fourth quarter valued at $6,111,000. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in PulteGroup during the fourth quarter valued at $2,815,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on PHM shares. StockNews.com lowered PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 2nd. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of PulteGroup in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group cut PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $93.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on PulteGroup from $116.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on PulteGroup from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.47.

PulteGroup Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE PHM opened at $105.96 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $110.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.82. PulteGroup has a 52-week low of $61.74 and a 52-week high of $121.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.03, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The construction company reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.07. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 25.97% and a net margin of 16.20%. The company had revenue of $4.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that PulteGroup will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to reacquire up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is currently 6.81%.

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.