Federated Hermes Inc. Grows Position in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Meritage Homes Corporation by 102.1% in Q1, holding 17,363 shares valued at $1.23 million.
• Meritage Homes reported a 2.04 EPS for the quarter, exceeding estimates, but revenue decreased by 4.6% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, with an annualized yield of 2.4% and a payout ratio of 15.47%.

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 102.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,363 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,772 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.'s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $1,231,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MTH. Greenhaven Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 94.1% in the first quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,434,368 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $101,668,000 after acquiring an additional 695,355 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 75.0% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 710,281 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $50,345,000 after acquiring an additional 304,427 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 95.9% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 598,694 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $42,435,000 after purchasing an additional 293,089 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 205.5% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 418,884 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $64,433,000 after purchasing an additional 281,773 shares during the period. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 82.2% in the first quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 511,100 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $36,227,000 after purchasing an additional 230,600 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Dennis V. Arriola acquired 2,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $70.00 per share, with a total value of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $665,840. This represents a 30.09% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Keough acquired 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group set a $107.00 price objective on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Meritage Homes to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wedbush reduced their price objective on shares of 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 raised their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Monday, May 5th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $91.13.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

MTH traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $72.19. 397,104 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,297,469. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a PE ratio of 6.49 and a beta of 1.29. The business's 50-day moving average price is $68.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.93. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 1-year low of $59.27 and a 1-year high of $106.99.

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

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meritage Homes's payout ratio is currently 15.47%.

Meritage Homes 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.