Alyeska Investment Group L.P. Takes Position in Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Key Points

• Alyeska Investment Group L.P. invested approximately $29.97 million in Meritage Homes Corporation, acquiring about 422,841 shares, which represents 0.59% of the company.
• Meritage Homes recently reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS), beating analysts' estimates, and had a revenue of $1.62 billion for the last quarter.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.2%, set to be paid on September 30th.

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 422,841 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $29,971,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. owned 0.59% of Meritage Homes as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MTH. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 100.0% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 166.5% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 581 shares of the construction company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 77.7% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 606 shares of the construction company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 329.9% during the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 619 shares of the construction company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 246.4% during the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 634 shares of the construction company's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other news, Director Dennis V. Arriola acquired 2,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $70.00 per share, with a total value of $154,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $665,840. The trade was a 30.09% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 6,950 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total transaction of $556,069.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 221,320 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,707,813.20. This trade represents a 3.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MTH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Meritage Homes to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $87.71.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 4.0%

Meritage Homes stock traded down $3.27 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $78.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 195,395 shares, compared to its average volume of 982,561. The company has a market capitalization of $5.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.09 and a beta of 1.35. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 12 month low of $59.27 and a 12 month high of $106.99. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $73.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 12.37%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.15 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.47%.

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.