HighTower Advisors LLC Raises Position in Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 100.6%, owning 6,452 shares valued at $457,000 as of the latest quarter.
• Meritage Homes announced a quarterly dividend of $0.43, representing a 2.2% yield, with the payment scheduled for September 30th.
• During the latest earnings report, Meritage Homes reported an EPS of $2.04, exceeding analysts' expectations, despite a 4.6% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 100.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,452 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,236 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $457,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 166.5% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 581 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position 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 valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 329.9% in the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 619 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 246.4% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 634 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the period. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zelman & Associates raised Meritage Homes to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Wedbush cut their price target on Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. One 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.71.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other news, Director Joseph Keough bought 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $66.16 per share, with a total value of $264,640.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 41,700 shares in the company, valued at $2,758,872. The trade was a 10.61% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Dennis V. Arriola bought 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $70.00 per share, for a total transaction of $154,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 9,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $665,840. This represents a 30.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Price Performance

Shares of MTH stock traded up $1.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $82.93. 1,585,412 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 866,647. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $73.64 and a 200 day moving average of $70.02. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 52-week low of $59.27 and a 52-week high of $106.99. The company has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a PE ratio of 7.46 and a beta of 1.35.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.15 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

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

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.