Hantz Financial Services Inc. Makes New $572,000 Investment in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,532 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $572,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 17,318.2% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,916 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 1,905 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,423 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,816,000 after purchasing an additional 2,411 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth approximately $433,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 2,518 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 47.6% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 9,562 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,666,000 after purchasing an additional 3,082 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,136,850. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,136,850. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.36, for a total transaction of $595,080.00. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,111,080 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $198.07 on Monday. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52 week low of $109.23 and a 52 week high of $210.58. 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 company has a market capitalization of $7.20 billion, a PE ratio of 9.24 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $181.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $171.14.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is 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.