Federated Hermes Inc. Increases Position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 31,346 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,911 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Meritage Homes worth $5,460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MTH. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Meritage Homes during the third quarter valued at $38,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter worth about $52,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 45.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 628 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter worth about $144,000. Finally, GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 3rd quarter valued at about $209,000. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Thursday. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Zelman & Associates raised Meritage Homes from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $151.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other news, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total transaction of $121,638.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $798,813.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.61, for a total value of $54,176.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 869 shares in the company, valued at $132,618.09. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Clinton Szubinski sold 797 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.62, for a total transaction of $121,638.14. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $798,813.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,998 shares of company stock worth $635,171 over the last 90 days. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH opened at $165.05 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.29 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Meritage Homes Co. has a one year low of $109.23 and a one year high of $179.68. The business has a fifty day moving average of $159.18 and a 200 day moving average of $152.58.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The construction company reported $5.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.54 by $1.52. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.03% and a net margin of 12.03%. The business had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 17.78 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Meritage Homes’s 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.