Meritage Homes Corporation $MTH Shares Acquired by LPL Financial LLC

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC significantly increased its stake in Meritage Homes Corporation by 117.2% during Q1, now holding 22,293 shares valued at approximately $1.58 million.
• The company recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.04 for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, but showed a revenue decline of 4.6% compared to the previous year.
• Meritage Homes announced a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, which will be paid on September 30, representing a 2.3% dividend yield.

LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH - Free Report) by 117.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,293 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,028 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $1,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTH. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in 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 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 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 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 stake in shares of Meritage Homes by 77.7% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 606 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meritage Homes

In other news, CEO Phillippe Lord sold 6,950 shares of Meritage Homes stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 221,320 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,707,813.20. The trade was a 3.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Keough acquired 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $66.16 per share, with a total value of $264,640.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 41,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,758,872. This trade represents a 10.61% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Meritage Homes Stock Up 0.8%

MTH traded up $0.64 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $77.82. The stock had a trading volume of 706,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,075,136. The company has a market capitalization of $5.54 billion, a PE ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 1.29. Meritage Homes Corporation has a twelve month low of $59.27 and a twelve month high of $106.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.80.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The construction company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 12.37%. Meritage Homes's revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.15 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Meritage Homes Corporation will post 9.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Meritage Homes Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.43 per share. 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 payout ratio is presently 15.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MTH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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. Evercore ISI lifted 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective 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. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Meritage Homes in a report on Monday, May 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wedbush cut their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.71.

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.