XTX Topco Ltd Increases Stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 361.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,098 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,127 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $1,473,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MTH. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 4.3% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,689 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 1,842 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. DMC Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 4.5% in the second quarter. DMC Group LLC now owns 2,421 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $392,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 1.1% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 10,126 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,639,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes 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 value of $512,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,136,850. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the business’s 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. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $2,003,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,084,793.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,111,080 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MTH. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. 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 report on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.00.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Meritage Homes stock opened at $203.33 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. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $191.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 1.81. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1 year low of $109.23 and a 1 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.14. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid 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%.

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.