Point72 Hong Kong Ltd Makes New $61,000 Investment in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 377 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 3,817 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $665,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 96.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 40,352 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $7,029,000 after buying an additional 19,813 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 140.2% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,482 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,826,000 after buying an additional 6,119 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 41.1% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 6,180 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,051,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 157.6% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 237 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on MTH. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.00.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.35, for a total value of $2,003,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 90,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,084,793.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $18,084,793.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,111,080. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of MTH opened at $203.69 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.50 and a beta of 1.80. Meritage Homes Co. has a fifty-two week low of $109.23 and a fifty-two week high of $213.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $193.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.89.

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

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meritage Homes’s 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.