Long Pond Capital LP Has $79.81 Million Position in Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Key Points

• Long Pond Capital LP increased its stake in Meritage Homes Corporation by 592.7%, owning approximately $79.81 million worth of shares, making it the fund's 6th largest holding.
• Meritage Homes reported an earnings per share of $2.04 for the latest quarter, beating the consensus estimate, although revenue declined 4.6% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, translating to a 2.1% yield, with a payout ratio of 15.47%.

Long Pond Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 592.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,125,995 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 963,438 shares during the quarter. Meritage Homes makes up approximately 5.2% of Long Pond Capital LP's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Long Pond Capital LP owned about 1.57% of Meritage Homes worth $79,811,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 21,576 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,319,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 173.9% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,731 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $420,000 after buying an additional 1,734 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in Meritage Homes by 408.7% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 29,364 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $4,449,000 after buying an additional 23,592 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Meritage Homes in the 4th quarter valued at $9,998,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 18,812 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,894,000 after acquiring an additional 3,343 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MTH opened at $80.1230 on Monday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $70.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.66. Meritage Homes Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $59.27 and a fifty-two week high of $106.99. The company has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.21 and a beta of 1.29. 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 (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 firm 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 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meritage Homes news, Director Joseph Keough bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $66.16 per share, with a total value of $264,640.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 41,700 shares in the company, valued at $2,758,872. This trade represents a 10.61% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 6,950 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total transaction of $556,069.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 221,320 shares in the company, valued at $17,707,813.20. This trade represents a 3.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on MTH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wedbush cut their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target 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. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Monday, May 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $87.71.

About Meritage Homes

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.

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