Palouse Capital Management Inc. Sells 156 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Palouse Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 12.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,089 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 156 shares during the quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 157.6% during the fourth 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 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 buying an additional 248 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes during the second quarter worth $64,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 16.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 676 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of Meritage Homes stock opened at $202.56 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.51. 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 company has a market capitalization of $7.36 billion, a PE ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 1.81. Meritage Homes Co. has a 12 month low of $109.23 and a 12 month high of $211.01.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.14. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 12.98%. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.02 earnings per share. Meritage Homes’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.99%.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In related news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $512,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,136,850. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was 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 directly owns 44,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,136,850. 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have 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 research 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. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.00.

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.