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

HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 15,423 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $3,163,000. Meritage Homes comprises about 1.1% of HWG Holdings LP's portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in Meritage Homes by 2.5% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 718,607 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $116,307,000 after purchasing an additional 17,843 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 13.5% during the first quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 490,660 shares of the construction company's stock worth $86,091,000 after buying an additional 58,350 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 0.8% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 315,931 shares of the construction company's stock worth $51,133,000 after buying an additional 2,460 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 734.4% during the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 272,122 shares of the construction company's stock worth $55,804,000 after buying an additional 239,511 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.0% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 227,300 shares of the construction company's stock worth $36,789,000 after buying an additional 10,900 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 1.4 %

Meritage Homes stock traded down $2.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $182.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 332,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 404,051. Meritage Homes Co. has a fifty-two week low of $109.23 and a fifty-two week high of $213.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.53 and a beta of 1.80. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $196.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.13.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $1.14. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.57 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 12.98%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.02 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is 13.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meritage Homes news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total transaction of $512,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 44,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,136,850. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on MTH. Raymond James raised their price target on Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Meritage Homes from $173.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com lowered Meritage Homes from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Meritage Homes from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $213.83.

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.