Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Has $10.07 Million Stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its stake in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 4.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 62,188 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,427 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned 0.17% of Meritage Homes worth $10,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Meritage Homes by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 523,332 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $91,164,000 after buying an additional 26,682 shares in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 58,350 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes during the fourth quarter valued at $76,297,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Meritage Homes by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 260,541 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $45,386,000 after purchasing an additional 33,382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in Meritage Homes by 45.9% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 247,228 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $43,067,000 after purchasing an additional 77,801 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.35, for a total transaction of $2,003,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,266 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,084,793.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Meritage Homes news, CFO Hilla Sferruzza sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $205.00, for a total value of $512,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,136,850. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.35, for a total value of $2,003,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 90,266 shares in the company, valued at $18,084,793.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 15,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,111,080. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

NYSE MTH opened at $191.73 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $6.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.94 and a beta of 1.81. Meritage Homes Co. has a 1 year low of $109.23 and a 1 year high of $210.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $186.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.15.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The construction company reported $6.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.17 by $1.14. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 17.99% and a net margin of 12.98%. The company had revenue of $1.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meritage Homes Co. will post 21.09 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is 13.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MTH. Wolfe Research upgraded Meritage Homes from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Meritage Homes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $148.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.00.

Meritage Homes 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.