Evergreen Capital Management LLC Increases Position 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 grew its position 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. 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MTH. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 100.0% in the first quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company's stock worth $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 first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 581 shares of the construction company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 77.7% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 606 shares of the construction company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 329.9% in the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 619 shares of the construction company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 246.4% during the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 634 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 6,950 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $17,707,813.20. This represents a 3.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Keough purchased 4,000 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $66.16 per share, with a total value of $264,640.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 41,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,758,872. The trade was a 10.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MTH. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Meritage Homes to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. One investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $87.71.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of Meritage Homes stock traded up $1.43 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $82.93. The stock had a trading volume of 1,585,412 shares, compared to its average volume of 866,647. The stock's 50 day moving average is $73.64 and its 200 day moving average is $70.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a PE ratio of 7.46 and a beta of 1.35. Meritage Homes Corporation has a twelve month low of $59.27 and a twelve month high of $106.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 12.37%. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.15 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. 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 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.