Moody Aldrich Partners LLC Purchases 1,979 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Moody Aldrich Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 6.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 30,505 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,979 shares during the quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $6,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MTH. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Meritage Homes in the third quarter worth $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% during the 2nd 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 period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the 2nd quarter worth about $61,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in Meritage Homes during the second quarter valued at about $64,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 15.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MTH traded up $1.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $184.34. The company had a trading volume of 54,922 shares, compared to its average volume of 402,837. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1 year low of $109.23 and a 1 year high of $213.98. The company has a market capitalization of $6.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.55 and a beta of 1.80. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $196.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $181.10.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.02 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. 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. 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 report on Monday, July 15th. Raymond James upped 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $213.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meritage Homes news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were 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 directly owns 44,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,136,850. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Meritage Homes news, 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,136,850. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 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 $2,837,936.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,111,080. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.