Cwm LLC Boosts Holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Cwm LLC increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 15.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 433 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 58 shares during the quarter. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $89,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 10.6% during the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 95,218 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $16,707,000 after acquiring an additional 9,128 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 79,358 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $13,924,000 after purchasing an additional 4,435 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 216,400 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $37,970,000 after purchasing an additional 7,000 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 204.5% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 13,378 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,165,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in Meritage Homes in the 1st quarter worth $25,495,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

NYSE MTH opened at $182.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.93. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $196.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $181.38. Meritage Homes Co. has a 52-week low of $109.23 and a 52-week high of $213.98. The company has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a PE ratio of 8.04 and a beta of 1.80.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its earnings results 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 the consensus estimate 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 was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.02 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.64%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were 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 owns 44,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,136,850. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTH has been the subject of several research reports. 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 note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com lowered Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wedbush upgraded shares of Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, July 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $213.83.

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.