Graham Capital Management L.P. Buys 4,030 Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in Meritage Homes Corporation by 108.2% in Q1, owning 7,754 shares now valued at $550,000.
• Meritage Homes reported $2.04 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, though revenue fell 4.6% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.43, with an annual yield of 2.1%, to be paid on September 30th.

Graham Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 108.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,754 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,030 shares during the quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $550,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 96.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,999,889 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $567,032,000 after purchasing an additional 3,925,148 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 93.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,926,900 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $207,456,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,024 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 94.1% during the 1st quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,434,368 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $101,668,000 after purchasing an additional 695,355 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in Meritage Homes by 95.7% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,352,648 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $95,876,000 after purchasing an additional 661,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Long Pond Capital LP raised its stake 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 last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In related news, Director Dennis V. Arriola acquired 2,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $70.00 per share, with a total value of $154,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,512 shares in the company, valued at $665,840. The trade was a 30.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joseph Keough acquired 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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 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. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of MTH traded down $0.68 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $82.15. The stock had a trading volume of 846,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 926,064. The company's fifty day moving average is $73.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 52 week low of $59.27 and a 52 week high of $106.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.39 and a beta of 1.35.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.15 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on MTH shares. Wedbush cut their target price 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. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Meritage Homes to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.71.

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.