Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Acquires 979 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 10.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,177 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 979 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $1,647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 26.6% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,823 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 25.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 6,776 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 1,380 shares during the period. Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes during the second quarter valued at about $645,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 4.1% during the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 62,188 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $10,065,000 after purchasing an additional 2,427 shares during the period. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the second quarter worth about $196,000. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In related news, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.36, for a total transaction of $595,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,837,936.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,307 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,837,936.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,500 shares of company stock worth $3,111,080. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $202.56 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $7.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51 and a beta of 1.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $190.29 and its 200 day 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. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1-year low of $109.23 and a 1-year high of $211.01.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.14. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 17.99%. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.02 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 EPS 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 dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MTH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock 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 target for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Raymond James raised their target price on Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Four 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.00.

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.