Leuthold Group LLC Sells 359 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Leuthold Group LLC decreased its position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 37,245 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 359 shares during the quarter. Leuthold Group LLC owned 0.10% of Meritage Homes worth $6,028,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In related news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 is available at this link. In other Meritage Homes news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $512,500.00. Following 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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.36, for a total value of $595,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,307 shares in the company, valued at $2,837,936.52. 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 over the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Wedbush raised their price target on Meritage Homes from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. 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 research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of MTH opened at $202.56 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.93. The firm has a market cap of $7.36 billion, a PE ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 1.81. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $190.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.51. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52-week low of $109.23 and a 52-week high of $211.01.

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

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.99%.

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.