Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 13,936 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lessened its holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 4.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 328,600 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 13,936 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.90% of Meritage Homes worth $53,184,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 157.6% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in Meritage Homes in the 2nd quarter valued at $64,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

MTH opened at $203.33 on Monday. 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 52-week low of $109.23 and a 52-week high of $213.98. The firm has a market cap of $7.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 1.80. The business’s fifty day moving average is $192.42 and its 200-day moving average is $175.58.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $1.14. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 12.98%. The business had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.02 EPS. Meritage Homes’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MTH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wedbush upped their price objective on Meritage Homes from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Wolfe Research raised 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. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the company’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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Meritage Homes news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,570 shares in the company, valued at $9,136,850. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.36, for a total value of $595,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,837,936.52. 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 ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.