HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 3,236 Shares of 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 increased its position in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 100.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,452 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,236 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 154.5% in the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 229,501 shares of the construction company's stock worth $16,267,000 after acquiring an additional 139,318 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes in the 1st quarter worth approximately $664,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes in the 1st quarter worth approximately $15,369,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Meritage Homes by 99.9% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 336,158 shares of the construction company's stock worth $23,827,000 after acquiring an additional 168,013 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC grew its holdings in Meritage Homes by 59.6% during the 1st quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 213,719 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $15,148,000 after buying an additional 79,821 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 6,950 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total value of $556,069.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Keough bought 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $66.16 per share, with a total value of $264,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 41,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,758,872. The trade was a 10.61% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $70.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company 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. Finally, Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.71.

Meritage Homes Trading Up 5.5%

MTH traded up $4.20 during trading on Thursday, reaching $80.98. The company had a trading volume of 450,923 shares, compared to its average volume of 979,242. The stock has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.27 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.91. Meritage Homes Corporation has a 52 week low of $59.27 and a 52 week high of $106.99. 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 (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 12.37% and a net margin of 10.27%.Meritage Homes's revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.15 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Meritage Homes's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.47%.

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.