Jump Financial LLC Takes Position in Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Key Points

• Jump Financial LLC has acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes Corporation by purchasing 9,677 shares valued at approximately $686,000 during the first quarter of the year.
• Despite the acquisition of shares by various institutional investors, Meritage Homes's stock price experienced a 0.2% decline recently, opening at $77.69.
• Meritage Homes announced a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, with an annualized payout representing a yield of 2.2%, reflecting a 15.47% dividend payout ratio.

Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 9,677 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $686,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MTH. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Meritage Homes by 166.5% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 581 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Meritage Homes by 77.7% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 606 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC grew its position in Meritage Homes by 329.9% during the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 619 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in 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 period. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTH has been the subject of several recent research reports. 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 report on Friday, July 25th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Meritage Homes to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Evercore ISI boosted 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. cut their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $87.71.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of MTH traded up $1.92 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $83.42. 467,260 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 981,030. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $73.32 and a 200-day moving average of $69.96. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 52 week low of $59.27 and a 52 week high of $106.99. The stock has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.53 and a beta of 1.35. 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 (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 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 business's revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.47%.

Insider Activity at Meritage Homes

In other Meritage Homes news, Director Dennis V. Arriola purchased 2,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $70.00 per share, with a total value of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 9,512 shares in the company, valued at $665,840. This trade represents a 30.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Keough purchased 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $66.16 per share, for a total transaction of $264,640.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 41,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,758,872. This represents 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 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.