Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Purchases 440,852 Shares of Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in Meritage Homes by 105.2% during the first quarter, owning about 1.20% of the company worth approximately $60.9 million.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Meritage Homes, with most setting neutral to strong-buy ratings and a target price range from $60 to $100.
• Meritage Homes recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.43, representing a 2.1% yield, to be paid on September 30th.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 105.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 859,736 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 440,852 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned approximately 1.20% of Meritage Homes worth $60,938,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 5.8% in the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 3,439 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 100.0% in the first 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. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 41.7% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 676 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 8.8% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 2,892 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes by 77.7% in the first 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. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other news, 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 value of $556,069.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 221,320 shares in the company, valued at $17,707,813.20. This represents a 3.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Dennis V. Arriola acquired 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $70.00 per share, for a total transaction of $154,000.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 9,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $665,840. This trade represents a 30.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MTH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Zelman & Associates upgraded shares of Meritage Homes to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Meritage Homes from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meritage Homes currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.71.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

MTH traded down $0.68 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $82.15. 846,309 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 926,064. The company's 50-day moving average is $73.94 and its 200 day moving average is $70.03. 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.85 billion, a PE ratio of 7.39 and a beta of 1.35.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last issued 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.15 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 EPS for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

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

Meritage Homes 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.