Palouse Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Palouse Capital Management Inc. cut its position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 36.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 690 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 399 shares during the period. Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $141,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Meritage Homes in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 1,033.3% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 272 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the second quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes in the second quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in Meritage Homes by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 433 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of Meritage Homes stock traded down $8.82 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $195.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 168,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 403,651. 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 12-month low of $109.23 and a 12-month high of $213.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $196.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $180.60. The company has a market cap of $7.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.51 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.02 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is 13.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meritage Homes news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 44,570 shares in the company, valued at $9,136,850. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Meritage Homes 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,084,793.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,136,850. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,500 shares of company stock worth $3,111,080. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MTH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Wedbush upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Raymond James increased their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $213.83.

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.