Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 13,936 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 4.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 328,600 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 13,936 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $53,184,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth approximately $76,297,000. Long Pond Capital LP acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the first quarter worth approximately $32,303,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the first quarter worth approximately $25,495,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the second quarter worth approximately $22,887,000. Finally, Boston Partners acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the first quarter worth approximately $23,106,000. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on MTH. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Wedbush raised their target price on Meritage Homes from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective 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. Raymond James raised their price objective on 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 Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.00.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In related news, 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 transaction of $595,080.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,307 shares in the company, valued at $2,837,936.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $512,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,570 shares in the company, valued at $9,136,850. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 have sold a total of 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,111,080 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Trading Down 4.8 %

Shares of Meritage Homes stock opened at $203.33 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.38 billion, a PE ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.93. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52 week low of $109.23 and a 52 week high of $213.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $192.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.58.

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

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 13.99%.

Meritage Homes 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.