LGT Group Foundation Acquires 1,643 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

LGT Group Foundation boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 18,595 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,643 shares during the quarter. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $3,010,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MTH. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 157.6% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes in the 2nd quarter valued at about $64,000. 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 buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 149.6% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 694 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on MTH shares. Raymond James increased their price target on Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.00.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

NYSE MTH opened at $189.77 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $6.89 billion, a PE ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 1.81. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52 week low of $109.23 and a 52 week high of $210.58. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $185.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $172.79.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.14. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.02 EPS. Meritage Homes’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 13.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meritage Homes news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of Meritage Homes 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 44,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,136,850. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.35, for a total transaction of $2,003,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 90,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,084,793.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $512,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 44,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,136,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,111,080. 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.