PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) and United Rentals Inc. (URI) Register Voluminous Insider Sales, Plus Three Companies with Insider Buying

U.S. Homebuilder Sees Current CEO Offload Massive Block of Shares

PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE:PHM) witnessed some heavy insider selling this week, so let’s find out who has been jettisoning shares at an alarming pace lately. Chairman and CEO Richard J. Dugas Jr., who is set to retire from his role as CEO in May 2017 in part due to a leadership change demanded by the homebuilder’s founder and his grandson, offloaded a massive amount of 243,115 shares on Monday at prices ranging from $21.80 to $22.12 per share, cutting his direct ownership stake to 1.28 million shares.

Just recently, analysts at JPMorgan upgraded the U.S. homebuilder to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Neutral’ and raised the price target on the stock to $26 from $18, saying that the company’s decision to boost its share buyback authorization by $1.0 billion to $1.5 billion should drive above-average growth in per-share earnings in 2017. PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE:PHM) recently revealed plans to slow land acquisition and use cash flows from operations to fund repurchase of $1.5 billion worth of shares over the next six quarters. PulteGroup’s shares are 22% in the green year-to-date. Edgar Wachenheim’s Greenhaven Associates had 4.34 million shares of PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE:PHM) in its portfolio on March 31.

Construction Rental Companies Registers Noteworthy Insider Selling

United Rentals Inc. (NYSE:URI) has also witnessed increased insider selling over the past several weeks, so let’s have a look at the most recent activity. Dale A. Asplund, Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President of Business Services, discarded 17,972 shares on Tuesday at prices varying from $78.24 to $78.71 per share. After the recent sale, Mr. Asplund currently owns 15,009 shares.

The recent insider selling comes after the largest equipment rental company in the world released a strong second-quarter earnings report. United Rentals Inc. (NYSE:URI) has seen the value of its stock gain 9% so far in 2016. In mid-June, analysts at Citigroup raised their price target on the construction rental company to $85 from $72 and reiterated their ‘Buy’ rating, citing demand growth that is “modestly” outpacing GDP and reduced supply operating as a tailwind. “We believe the overall rental rate backdrop continues to improve, reflective of the tightening supply/demand balance”, said Citigroup analysts back in June. Ray Carroll’s Breton Hill Capital owns 10,842 shares of United Rentals Inc. (NYSE:URI) as of the end of the second quarter.

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