Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) Shares Purchased by Burney Co.

Key Points

• Burney Co. increased its stake in Meritage Homes Corporation by 34.5%, acquiring 3,707 additional shares during the first quarter, raising their total holdings to 14,461 shares valued at approximately $1,025,000.
• The company's stock recently traded down by 1.9% to $69.72, with a market capitalization of $5.01 billion and earnings per share of $2.04, surpassing analysts' expectations.
• Meritage Homes declared a quarterly dividend of $0.43, yielding 2.47%, while its payout ratio stands at 15.47%.

Burney Co. lifted its position in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 34.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,461 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 3,707 shares during the quarter. Burney Co.'s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $1,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MTH. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 88.0% during the first quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 14,100 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $999,000 after purchasing an additional 6,600 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 41.7% in the first quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 65,895 shares of the construction company's stock worth $4,671,000 after acquiring an additional 19,404 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 18.3% in the first quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 3,653 shares of the construction company's stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. SRH Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 100.0% during the first quarter. SRH Advisors LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the construction company's stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 100.0% during the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 24,266 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,720,000 after purchasing an additional 12,133 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, Director Joseph Keough acquired 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $66.16 per share, for a total transaction of $264,640.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 41,700 shares in the company, valued at $2,758,872. The trade was a 10.61% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MTH. Bank of America began coverage on Meritage Homes in a research report on Monday, May 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $82.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Meritage Homes from $89.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush dropped their price target on Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.89.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 0.7%

MTH traded up $0.47 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $70.24. 351,607 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 971,344. The firm's fifty day moving average is $67.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.45. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 1-year low of $59.27 and a 1-year high of $106.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a PE ratio of 6.31 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is currently 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.