Qsemble Capital Management LP Makes New $645,000 Investment in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,987 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $645,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MTH. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Meritage Homes by 157.6% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 272 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 676 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on MTH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Raymond James raised 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 44,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,136,850. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,136,850. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of Meritage Homes 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,837,936.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,500 shares of company stock worth $3,111,080. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 4.1 %

Shares of MTH stock opened at $203.55 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $188.34 and a 200-day moving average of $173.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $7.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.80. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1-year low of $109.23 and a 1-year high of $210.58.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.02 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.