Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Acquires 95,682 Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Key Points

• Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 129.7% in Q1, now owning approximately $12.01 million worth of shares.
• Meritage Homes reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.04, surpassing analyst expectations by $0.05, despite a 4.6% year-over-year revenue decline.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.43, representing an annual yield of 2.1%, to be paid on September 30th.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 129.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 169,437 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 95,682 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned 0.24% of Meritage Homes worth $12,010,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MTH. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meritage Homes by 23.9% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 649,617 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $46,045,000 after purchasing an additional 125,299 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Meritage Homes in the first quarter worth approximately $1,764,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Meritage Homes by 278.1% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,071,802 shares of the construction company's stock worth $75,969,000 after buying an additional 788,323 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Meritage Homes by 84.6% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 878,089 shares of the construction company's stock worth $62,239,000 after buying an additional 402,411 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in Meritage Homes by 5,941.7% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 725 shares of the construction company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 713 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MTH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Meritage Homes to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.71.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE:MTH traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $77.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 706,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 992,227. The company has a market cap of $5.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 1.29. Meritage Homes Corporation has a one year low of $59.27 and a one year high of $106.99. The business's 50-day moving average is $71.52 and its 200-day moving average is $69.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.60 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 12.37%. Meritage Homes's revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.15 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is 15.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meritage Homes

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

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.