Aquatic Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Aquatic Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) by 29.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 73,208 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 31,142 shares during the quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC owned about 0.10% of Meritage Homes worth $5,302,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 194.9% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 699 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 366.8% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,489 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares during the period. Archer Investment Corp grew its position in Meritage Homes by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 1,559 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Meritage Homes by 201.4% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 1,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MAI Capital Management increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 612.5% in the 3rd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 2,451 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $178,000 after buying an additional 2,107 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 10,928 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total transaction of $834,352.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 124,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,540,772.35. This trade represents a 8.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Javier Feliciano sold 3,580 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.24, for a total transaction of $272,939.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 44,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,425,844.40. This trade represents a 7.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 47,622 shares of company stock worth $3,640,273. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MTH. Evercore set a $77.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $82.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Zacks Research cut shares of Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group set a $95.00 price objective on Meritage Homes in a report on Friday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meritage Homes has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.33.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $64.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.10. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $73.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.80. The stock has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a PE ratio of 10.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.46. Meritage Homes Corporation has a one year low of $59.27 and a one year high of $84.74.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The construction company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 9.28% and a net margin of 7.73%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.72 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This is a positive change from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Meritage Homes’s payout ratio is currently 27.22%.

Meritage Homes Company Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation is a national homebuilder and residential developer headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Founded in 1985 as Winchester Homes and later rebranded to Meritage Homes, the company specializes in designing, constructing and selling single‐family detached and attached homes. With a focus on energy efficiency and sustainable building practices, Meritage Homes markets its properties under the GreenSmart program, which integrates high‐performance features aimed at reducing long‐term energy and water consumption for homebuyers.

The company’s core activities encompass land acquisition, residential community planning, home design, construction management and real estate sales.