Evergreen Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Key Points

• Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes Corporation by 117.0%, now owning 6,105 shares valued at $433,000.
• The company reported earnings of $2.04 per share for the last quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate by $0.05, despite a 4.6% decrease in revenue compared to the previous year.
• Meritage Homes announced a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.2%, to be paid on September 30th.

Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 117.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,105 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,291 shares during the quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC's holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 95.7% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,352,648 shares of the construction company's stock worth $95,876,000 after buying an additional 661,310 shares during the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 110.5% in the first quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 51,501 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,650,000 after acquiring an additional 27,035 shares during the period. EMG Holdings L.P. bought a new stake in Meritage Homes in the first quarter valued at $10,063,000. Long Pond Capital LP increased its position in Meritage Homes by 592.7% during the 1st quarter. Long Pond Capital LP now owns 1,125,995 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $79,811,000 after purchasing an additional 963,438 shares during the period. Finally, Corebridge Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Meritage Homes by 96.1% in the 1st quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 37,536 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,661,000 after purchasing an additional 18,399 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of Meritage Homes stock traded up $1.43 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $82.93. The company had a trading volume of 1,585,412 shares, compared to its average volume of 926,064. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 52-week low of $59.27 and a 52-week high of $106.99. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.46 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50 day moving average of $73.64 and a 200 day moving average of $69.97.

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

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.47%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph Keough purchased 4,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $66.16 per share, with a total value of $264,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 41,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,758,872. The trade was a 10.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 6,950 shares of the business'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 transaction 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 approximately $17,707,813.20. The trade was a 3.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Meritage Homes to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Wedbush reduced their target price on Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meritage Homes currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" 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.