Federated Hermes Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 31,346 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,911 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $5,460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MTH. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,170,062 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $510,374,000 after acquiring an additional 151,946 shares in the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 826,791 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $144,027,000 after purchasing an additional 12,841 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 779,549 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $135,797,000 after purchasing an additional 143,440 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 689,600 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $84,400,000 after purchasing an additional 61,594 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 36.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 449,233 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $54,982,000 after buying an additional 118,818 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meritage Homes news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total value of $406,975.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,322,302.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total transaction of $54,176.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $132,618.09. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.79, for a total transaction of $406,975.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 100,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,322,302.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,998 shares of company stock worth $635,171. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MTH. Zelman & Associates upgraded Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Wedbush reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $148.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.67.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 6.7 %

Shares of Meritage Homes stock opened at $165.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $159.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.58. The stock has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.29 and a beta of 1.77. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1-year low of $109.23 and a 1-year high of $179.68.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.54 by $1.52. The company had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.03% and a net margin of 12.03%. Analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 17.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

About Meritage Homes

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.