Legal & General Group Plc Sells 37,232 Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc cut its Meritage Homes stake by 17.0% in the fourth quarter, selling 37,232 shares and ending with 181,773 shares valued at about $12 million.
• Meritage Homes reported weaker-than-expected Q1 results, posting EPS of $0.86 versus the $0.98 estimate and revenue of $1.12 billion versus the $1.55 billion forecast; revenue fell 17.5% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, implying an annualized yield of 2.9%, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with a $79.89 target price.

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its position in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 17.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 181,773 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 37,232 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.26% of Meritage Homes worth $11,961,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 134.3% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 38,658 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,740,000 after buying an additional 22,162 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 51.7% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 12,937 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $917,000 after buying an additional 4,407 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 58.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,058,850 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $75,051,000 after buying an additional 391,297 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 111.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 32,971 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,337,000 after buying an additional 17,343 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Meritage Homes by 102.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 319,150 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $22,621,000 after buying an additional 161,806 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In related news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 1,273 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.11, for a total value of $79,066.03. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 7,634 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $474,147.74. This trade represents a 14.29% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on MTH. UBS Group set a $86.00 target price on Meritage Homes and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Meritage Homes from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Truist Financial set a $80.00 target price on Meritage Homes and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings lowered Meritage Homes from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Meritage Homes from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $79.89.

Meritage Homes Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of Meritage Homes stock opened at $67.23 on Thursday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $64.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.75. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.03 and a 52-week high of $84.74. The firm has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.96 and a current ratio of 1.96.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The construction company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.12). Meritage Homes had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 8.08%. The firm had revenue of $1.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.69 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.23%.

Meritage Homes Profile

Meritage Homes Corporation is a national homebuilder and residential developer headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. Founded in 1985 as Winchester Homes and later rebranded to Meritage Homes, the company specializes in designing, constructing and selling single‐family detached and attached homes. With a focus on energy efficiency and sustainable building practices, Meritage Homes markets its properties under the GreenSmart program, which integrates high‐performance features aimed at reducing long‐term energy and water consumption for homebuyers.

The company's core activities encompass land acquisition, residential community planning, home design, construction management and real estate sales.

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