Investors Buy Large Volume of PulteGroup Call Options (NYSE:PHM)

Key Points

• Unusual trading activity was reported for PulteGroup, with approximately 9,941 call options purchased, marking an increase of 1,498% compared to the usual volume.
• Several analysts raised their price targets for PulteGroup, with UBS increasing it from $141.00 to $150.00 and Royal Bank of Canada from $109.00 to $112.00, indicating bullish sentiment among research firms.
• PulteGroup announced a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, payable on October 2nd, representing an annualized yield of 0.7%.

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 9,941 call options on the stock. Thisrepresentsanincreaseofapproximately1,498% compared to the average volume of 622 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PHM. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $109.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $128.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of PulteGroup from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PulteGroup currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $136.46.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PulteGroup by 0.8% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,290,631 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,296,170,000 after purchasing an additional 95,058 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in PulteGroup during the 2nd quarter worth about $404,339,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 40.3% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,486,330 shares of the construction company's stock worth $358,395,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001,290 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 27.2% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,199,906 shares of the construction company's stock worth $337,462,000 after acquiring an additional 683,728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in PulteGroup by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,634,275 shares of the construction company's stock worth $277,811,000 after acquiring an additional 23,051 shares in the last quarter. 89.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PulteGroup Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of PHM opened at $133.40 on Thursday. The company's fifty day moving average is $119.12 and its 200 day moving average is $107.64. PulteGroup has a fifty-two week low of $88.07 and a fifty-two week high of $149.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.32 billion, a PE ratio of 9.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

PulteGroup (NYSE:PHM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The construction company reported $3.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.92 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $4.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.42 billion. PulteGroup had a net margin of 15.50% and a return on equity of 21.01%. PulteGroup's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that PulteGroup will post 12.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

PulteGroup Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. PulteGroup's payout ratio is 6.58%.

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.

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