HWG Holdings LP Acquires Shares of 15,423 Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 15,423 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,163,000. Meritage Homes comprises 1.1% of HWG Holdings LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 23.1% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,456 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,010,000 after acquiring an additional 2,150 shares during the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the first quarter worth about $1,908,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC now owns 2,863 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Meritage Homes during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $273,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 36.5% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,228 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,496,000 after buying an additional 3,805 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MTH. StockNews.com downgraded Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James raised 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. Wolfe Research raised shares of Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Wedbush raised Meritage Homes from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $213.83.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE MTH opened at $185.43 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.65 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 1.93. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1 year low of $109.23 and a 1 year high of $213.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $196.90 and a 200 day moving average of $181.13.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.17 by $1.14. The firm had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 12.98%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.02 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.99%.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In related news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $512,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 44,570 shares in the company, valued at $9,136,850. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

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.