DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Sells 234 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale decreased its position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 8.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,658 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 234 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 157.6% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 272 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new position in Meritage Homes during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased 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 worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH opened at $203.33 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 1.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.38 billion, a PE ratio of 9.67 and a beta of 1.81. Meritage Homes Co. has a one year low of $109.23 and a one year high of $213.98.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.14. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 12.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.02 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 EPS 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 given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MTH. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush boosted their price target on Meritage Homes from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.