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

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 9,941 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,498% compared to the typical daily volume of 622 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PulteGroup

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Custom Index Systems LLC lifted its stake in PulteGroup by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC now owns 3,876 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $422,000 after buying an additional 427 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of PulteGroup by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 28,286 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,087,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in PulteGroup by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 62,670 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,825,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its position in PulteGroup by 31.1% during the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 4,351 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $474,000 after buying an additional 1,032 shares during the period. Finally, Foster & Motley Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 71,552 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $7,792,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the period. 89.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PulteGroup Stock Performance

PHM opened at $116.56 on Friday. PulteGroup has a 12-month low of $100.24 and a 12-month 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 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $119.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $127.27.

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

PulteGroup Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This is a positive change from PulteGroup’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. PulteGroup’s payout ratio is 6.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wedbush upgraded shares of PulteGroup from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $140.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of PulteGroup from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group raised shares of PulteGroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $154.00 to $148.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of PulteGroup from $168.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, PulteGroup has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.14.

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.