Versant Capital Management Inc Buys 211 Shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 183.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 326 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $46,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new position in Meritage Homes during the first quarter worth about $29,000. OLD Mission Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 36.9% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 393 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 1st quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in shares of Meritage Homes during the 1st quarter valued at about $114,000. Institutional investors own 99.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MTH shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $155.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Meritage Homes in a research note on Wednesday, May 31st. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Wedbush boosted their target price on Meritage Homes from $137.00 to $141.00 in a research note on Friday, July 7th. StockNews.com cut Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 24th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Wednesday, June 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $136.33.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 3.0 %

MTH stock opened at $128.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a PE ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 1.65. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1-year low of $65.40 and a 1-year high of $152.55. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $140.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.55.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The construction company reported $5.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by $1.53. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 21.15% and a net margin of 13.10%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.77 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 19.45 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is 4.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 481 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $72,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $982,050. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Peter L. Ax sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.50, for a total transaction of $448,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,246,835.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Alison Sasser sold 481 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $72,150.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $982,050. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,831 shares of company stock valued at $721,841 in the last ninety days. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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 first-time and first move-up buyers in Texas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee.