Diversified Trust Co Purchases 2,300 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Diversified Trust Co raised its position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 62.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,990 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 2,300 shares during the quarter. Diversified Trust Co’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $1,228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MTH. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $64,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 149.6% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 694 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MTH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.00.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 0.6 %

Meritage Homes stock opened at $196.42 on Wednesday. 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 50 day moving average price of $194.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $179.12. The firm has a market cap of $7.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.16 and a beta of 1.80.

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

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 90,266 shares in the company, valued at $18,084,793.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 90,266 shares in the company, valued at $18,084,793.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were 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 owns 44,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,136,850. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,500 shares of company stock worth $3,111,080 in the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.