Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Stake in Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Meritage Homes Corporation by 102.7% in Q1, owning approximately 1.37% of the company after acquiring an additional 499,063 shares.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Meritage Homes, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $87.71, while Bank of America and Zelman & Associates rated it a "buy" and "strong-buy," respectively.
• Meritage Homes recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, providing a yield of 2.2% and a payout ratio of 15.47%.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 102.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 985,239 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 499,063 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.37% of Meritage Homes worth $69,834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 100.0% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 166.5% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 581 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 77.7% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 606 shares of the construction company's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 329.9% during the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 619 shares of the construction company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 246.4% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 634 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 0.2%

MTH stock traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $77.14. 369,884 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 984,286. The company has a market cap of $5.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.94 and a beta of 1.29. 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 Corporation has a 1-year low of $59.27 and a 1-year high of $106.99. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $69.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.66.

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

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph Keough purchased 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $66.16 per share, with a total value of $264,640.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 41,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,758,872. This trade represents a 10.61% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dennis V. Arriola bought 2,200 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $70.00 per share, with a total value of $154,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 9,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at $665,840. This trade represents a 30.09% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wedbush reduced their price target 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. Zelman & Associates upgraded Meritage Homes to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $87.71.

About Meritage Homes

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.