Occidental Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH – Free Report) by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,167 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $2,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MTH. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 2.5% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 718,607 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $116,307,000 after buying an additional 17,843 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 523,332 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $91,164,000 after acquiring an additional 26,682 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 13.5% during the 1st quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 490,660 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $86,091,000 after purchasing an additional 58,350 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 315,931 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $51,133,000 after purchasing an additional 2,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in Meritage Homes by 734.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 272,122 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $55,804,000 after purchasing an additional 239,511 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research firms have recently commented on MTH. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wedbush upgraded Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $213.83.
Meritage Homes Price Performance
Shares of MTH stock opened at $196.82 on Tuesday. Meritage Homes Co. has a twelve month low of $109.23 and a twelve month high of $213.98. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $194.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $179.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.18 and a beta of 1.80.
Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.14. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.02 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Meritage Homes Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 13.99%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,084,793.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $512,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,136,850. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,084,793.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,111,080 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.
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.
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