Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 25,510 Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Hsbc Holdings PLC trimmed its stake in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) by 86.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,854 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 25,510 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 100.0% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 166.5% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 581 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 77.7% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 606 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 329.9% in the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 619 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 246.4% in the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 634 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 451 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Meritage Homes news, Director Dennis V. Arriola purchased 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $70.00 per share, with a total value of $154,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,512 shares in the company, valued at $665,840. The trade was a 30.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Keough purchased 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $66.16 per share, for a total transaction of $264,640.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 41,700 shares in the company, valued at $2,758,872. This represents a 10.61% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MTH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Zelman & Associates upgraded Meritage Homes to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wedbush decreased their price target on Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.71.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH opened at $81.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $73.32 and a 200-day moving average of $69.96. The company has a market cap of $5.80 billion, a PE ratio of 7.34 and a beta of 1.35. Meritage Homes Corporation has a one year low of $59.27 and a one year high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 12.37% and a net margin of 10.27%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.15 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.47%.

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.