Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Shares Acquired by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 25.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,776 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,380 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $1,097,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MTH. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 157.6% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 272 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 2nd quarter valued at $64,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 676 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

MTH stock opened at $195.60 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $7.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.12 and a beta of 1.80. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $187.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.31. Meritage Homes Co. has a twelve month low of $109.23 and a twelve month high of $210.58.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $1.14. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.02 EPS. Meritage Homes’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.99%.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.35, for a total value of $2,003,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,084,793.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.36, for a total transaction of $595,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,837,936.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.35, for a total value of $2,003,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,084,793.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,500 shares of company stock worth $3,111,080 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MTH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Wedbush raised their target price on Meritage Homes from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wolfe Research raised Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.00.

About Meritage Homes

Meritage Homes Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs and builds single-family attached and detached homes in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Homebuilding and Financial Services. It acquires and develops land; and constructs, markets, and sells homes for entry-level and first move-up buyers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah, Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.