Comerica Bank Increases Stock Position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Comerica Bank raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 5.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,358 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,435 shares during the period. Comerica Bank owned approximately 0.22% of Meritage Homes worth $13,924,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MTH. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 4.3% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,689 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 16.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 676 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 91.6% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 205 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.4% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 31,901 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,597,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 157.6% during 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. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,837,936.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $512,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,136,850. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of Meritage Homes 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,837,936.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,500 shares of company stock worth $3,111,080. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on MTH shares. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on Meritage Homes from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.60.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 3.5 %

MTH traded down $7.19 on Thursday, hitting $195.68. 190,556 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 427,824. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $173.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $7.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.47 and a beta of 1.80. Meritage Homes Co. has a twelve month low of $109.23 and a twelve month high of $210.58.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business 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 predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 20.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meritage Homes’s 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.