WINTON GROUP Ltd Sells 2,621 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

WINTON GROUP Ltd reduced its holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 32.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,451 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 2,621 shares during the quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $882,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 135,678 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $21,960,000 after buying an additional 5,116 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 10.6% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,177 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,647,000 after acquiring an additional 979 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Meritage Homes by 26.6% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,823 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,104,000 after acquiring an additional 1,433 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 25.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 6,776 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Meritage Homes during the 2nd quarter valued at $645,000. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of MTH stock opened at $204.35 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $189.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.20. Meritage Homes Co. has a one year low of $109.23 and a one year high of $210.58. The firm has a market cap of $7.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.53 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 1.93.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is currently 13.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meritage Homes news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.35, for a total value of $2,003,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 90,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,084,793.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meritage Homes news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.35, for a total transaction of $2,003,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 90,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,084,793.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of Meritage Homes 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,136,850. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,500 shares of company stock worth $3,111,080 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTH has been the topic of several research reports. 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. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com cut Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.00.

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.