Junto Capital Management LP Acquires Shares of 501,433 Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Key Points

• Junto Capital Management LP has acquired a new stake in Meritage Homes Corporation, purchasing 501,433 shares valued at approximately $35.5 million, amounting to 0.70% of the company's stock.
• Meritage Homes reported earnings of $2.04 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, despite a 4.6% year-over-year decline in revenue.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.43, translating to an annual yield of 2.2%, with a payout ratio of 15.47%.

Junto Capital Management LP bought a new position in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 501,433 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $35,542,000. Junto Capital Management LP owned about 0.70% of Meritage Homes at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meritage Homes by 96.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,999,889 shares of the construction company's stock worth $567,032,000 after purchasing an additional 3,925,148 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $207,456,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417,024 shares during the last quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 94.1% during the 1st quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 1,434,368 shares of the construction company's stock worth $101,668,000 after acquiring an additional 695,355 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 95.7% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,352,648 shares of the construction company's stock worth $95,876,000 after acquiring an additional 661,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Long Pond Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $79,811,000 after acquiring an additional 963,438 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MTH. Wedbush dropped their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target 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. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Meritage Homes to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "market perform" 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 given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.71.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

NYSE MTH traded up $3.39 on Thursday, reaching $80.17. The company had a trading volume of 353,893 shares, compared to its average volume of 978,826. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.71 billion, a PE ratio of 7.22 and a beta of 1.35. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $73.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.91. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 12 month low of $59.27 and a 12 month high of $106.99.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.15 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $556,069.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 221,320 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,707,813.20. This represents a 3.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Dennis V. Arriola purchased 2,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $70.00 per share, for a total transaction of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 9,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $665,840. The trade was a 30.09% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

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.