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

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 9,941 call options on the company. This is an increase of 1,498% compared to the average daily volume of 622 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PulteGroup

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PHM. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 0.9% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 315,927 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $32,477,000 after purchasing an additional 2,930 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in PulteGroup by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 122,223 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,565,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,644 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in PulteGroup in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,943,000. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its position in PulteGroup by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 94,533 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,718,000 after acquiring an additional 4,850 shares during the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PHM. Weiss Ratings cut shares of PulteGroup from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on PulteGroup from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on PulteGroup from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 target price (up previously from $115.00) on shares of PulteGroup in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on PulteGroup from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PulteGroup currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.67.

PulteGroup Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE PHM opened at $118.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $127.12 and its 200-day moving average is $116.81. PulteGroup has a one year low of $88.07 and a one year high of $142.11.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The construction company reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. PulteGroup had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 14.93%.PulteGroup’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.35 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PulteGroup will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. PulteGroup’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.77%.

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.