Baird Financial Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 91.2%, owning approximately $10.67 million worth of shares after acquiring additional shares in the first quarter.
• Meritage Homes recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, with a yield of 2.3%, effective September 30th, reflecting a payout ratio of 15.47%.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Meritage Homes, with one rating it as a strong buy, while others have lowered target prices, leading to a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a target price of $87.71.

Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 91.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 150,583 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 71,840 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.21% of Meritage Homes worth $10,673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 59,847 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $9,206,000 after buying an additional 2,061 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 475,678 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $73,169,000 after purchasing an additional 21,123 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 270.9% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 6,312 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $971,000 after purchasing an additional 4,610 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 23,505 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,616,000 after purchasing an additional 5,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 155,725 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $23,954,000 after purchasing an additional 22,000 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Meritage Homes Stock Up 1.8%

NYSE MTH traded up $1.43 on Friday, reaching $82.93. 1,585,412 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 866,647. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $73.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.00. The company has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.46 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.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued 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 analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 12.37% and a net margin of 10.27%.Meritage Homes's revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.15 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Meritage Homes's payout ratio 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.