Whittier Trust Co. Cuts Holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Whittier Trust Co. reduced its position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 37.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 330 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 199 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $68,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 47,546 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $9,750,000 after buying an additional 11,558 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 7,252 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,487,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. BOS Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter. BOS Asset Management LLC now owns 4,874 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 979 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Occidental Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 12,167 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,495,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH stock opened at $185.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.93. Meritage Homes Co. has a one year low of $109.23 and a one year high of $213.98. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $196.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.65 and a beta of 1.80.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 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 business had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.02 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given 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 dividend yield of 1.62%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 13.99%.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 44,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,136,850. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on MTH shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Wolfe Research upgraded Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James raised their target price on Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush upgraded Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $213.83.

About Meritage Homes

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.