1,373 Shares in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) Bought by Ballentine Partners LLC

Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,373 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 17,318.2% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,916 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 1,905 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 28,451 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,956,000 after purchasing an additional 1,199 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,593 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $800,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 260,541 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $45,386,000 after purchasing an additional 33,382 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $195.60 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $187.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 1.93. The company has a market cap of $7.10 billion, a PE ratio of 9.12 and a beta of 1.80. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12 month low of $109.23 and a 12 month high of $210.58.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.02 EPS. Meritage Homes’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.36, for a total value of $595,080.00. Following the sale, 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 through this hyperlink. In other Meritage Homes news, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.36, for a total transaction of $595,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,837,936.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 44,570 shares in the company, valued at $9,136,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,111,080 in the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MTH shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Raymond James raised 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. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.00.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

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.