Intech Investment Management LLC Acquires 37,464 Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management LLC has increased its stake in Meritage Homes Corporation by 128.5%, now owning 66,627 shares valued at approximately $4.72 million.
• Meritage Homes recently reported an earnings per share of $2.04, surpassing analysts' estimates, despite a 4.6% year-on-year decline in revenue.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, resulting in an annual dividend yield of 2.2%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 16th.

Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 128.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,627 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 37,464 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC owned 0.09% of Meritage Homes worth $4,723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,439 shares of the construction company's stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 380 shares of the construction company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 41.7% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 676 shares of the construction company's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 2,892 shares of the construction company's stock worth $202,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 77.7% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 606 shares of the construction company's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meritage Homes news, Director Dennis V. Arriola purchased 2,200 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $70.00 per share, for a total transaction of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 hyperlink. Also, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 6,950 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total transaction of $556,069.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 221,320 shares in the company, valued at $17,707,813.20. The trade was a 3.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of MTH stock traded down $1.63 during trading on Monday, hitting $77.16. The company had a trading volume of 915,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 884,042. 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's 50-day moving average is $74.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.94 and a beta of 1.35. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 52 week low of $59.27 and a 52 week high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.60 billion. Meritage Homes had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 12.37%. Meritage Homes's revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.15 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio is 15.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MTH. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Zelman & Associates raised shares of Meritage Homes to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Wedbush cut their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. One equities research 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.